The Abandoned Chase
by Ohai96
Summary: Fang left the flock, and Max goes after him. They meet some unexpected people. Back at home, someone close to the flock is putting them in danger. Will they find out who the person is? Fax. Summary sucks. I know. But if you read it, you wont regret it.
1. First Day of Flight

Max POV

When you get punched in the heart, how long does it take the wound to heal? Because I feel like I have been punched in the heart hundreds of times in a row; I guess I have a longer time for me to heal then.

I sighed and let my wings stretch out, all thirteen feet of them. I haven't cried for a very, very long time, but this night was about to break that record. After Total's wedding, Fang left me and the Flock.

Fang left me a note, and skipped out of the house while everyone was enjoying cake and partying at the wedding. When I got home, I discovered a Fangless-house with nothing but some dumb note. A tear escaped my eye before I could wipe it away. With a deep breath I walked into my bedroom and lightly shut the door behind me. The mirror that hung from the back of my closet door showed that I could have been in a bridal magazine… other than the mascara dripping down my cheeks.

The black bridesmaid's gown wasn't poofy of frilly. Its style was plain Maximum Ride. It fit my curves perfectly with only a solid black color. I removed my dress and high heels and threw them onto my bed. I grabbed a tank top and shorts and threw them on; not bothering to get dressed up.

Let me tell you this, you are lucky I got out of the damn dress. I wanted to break down crying and eat a whole jar of cookie dough while watching _The Notebook_, but that wasn't what the Flock would have wanted from me. I sat down on my bed and tossed my dirty-blonde hair into a pony tail.

A quiet knock came at the door and Nudge and Angel stepped in. For a moment we all just stared at each other in disbelief. Fang, our friend, our _family_, was gone. It was obvious that they had been crying too, their eyes were red and puffy and their cheeks were wet. Both of them still remained in their black dresses. As if the gates were opened, both girls ran at me and tackled me into a hug.

_Don't cry Max… He will be back… Don't think about it…_

All three of us started bawling.

"W-why would he leave?" Angel sniffled. Her big, blue eyes looked up at me for answers I didn't have. "His thoughts were perfectly normal at the wedding. All he thought about was how beautiful you looked tonight." Did I mention Angel is a mind-reading six year old?

I bit my lip and looked at the girls who sat down on both sides of me. No matter how broken I was feeling, my flock was going to come first. "Fang didn't leave randomly. We have to give this some thought. Never in our lives had he ever let us down, maybe this is just… a mission." I said skeptically.

"Twenty years…" Nudge's dark brown eyes stared at the ground then back up at me. "Why such a long time?" She crossed her hands over her lap as another tear streamed down her face.

I was about to answer when there was another knock at the door. Iggy and Gazzy both walked in. Iggy looked as though he just went on a rampage and punched all of the walls in the house. (That would explain the bloody knuckles). But Gazzy just looked crushed.

"Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel," I looked at them with sad eyes, "get out of the wedding dresses and suit. Find something comfortable; we are going to have a Flock Talk in a little while. I just want to talk to Iggy for a moment." All three of them nodded and walked out of the door. If we didn't have amazing hearing, you wouldn't have heard the small click as the door was barely shut by the upset kids.

"What the hell is his problem?" Iggy shouted. He paced around the room. For a blind kid, Iggy was able to walk around without having to worry about hitting something. "He knew the second he stepped foot out of this house he would cause every single one of us pain." Iggy looked right into my eyes, which was creepy because he was blind. "You must be feeling like you're going to die this instant."

I nodded then said, "I want to break down and cry, but how Max-y would that look?" Another tear escaped my eye.

Damn my stupid tear ducts.

Iggy did the unexpected. He pulled me into a bug hug and started crying, "We need to go find him, he is the missing link to The Flock." Iggy whispered in my ear. I nodded again. Iggy and I stayed in that hug for what felt like a millennium. I had only hugged Iggy twice in my life; this is my third.

I think I am going to shoot myself because I keep on crying.

_Fang is GONE! Crying will not help the situation at all. Even though the letter said not to, I have to go look for him._ I thought.

"Iggy?" I said after we broke the hug. "Do you think…" Biting my lip, I looked down and sighed. Here goes nothing, "Would it be selfish of me to leave you and Dylan in charge so I can go drag Fang's ass back here?" I wiped my cheek and sat down on my bed. Why did he have to leave now? Could he have left when I was… when I was … well there's the problem. I wished Fang would_ never _leave me. But he did.

"Go get 'em, tiger" Iggy smirked and kissed my cheek. Not kiss as in the 'Oooh la la'. The kiss as in 'you are my sister, get hurt and I will go insane'.

I nodded and walked out of my room. Dylan sat on the couch, staring at me. "You are going after that guy. He left Max. He left you and the rest of the Flock. He wanted to go, so let him go." He said this through clenched teeth.

Boy do you want to see daylight tomorrow?

I walked over to him, stood in front of him, smiled, and kicked him in the shin. "Who in the hell gives you the right to say what I should and shouldn't do? Last time I checked I was flock leader and Fang was my right hand man! No one can replace Fang, so we are going to make him explain why the hell he left and make him take his place next to me." My eyes narrowed on him. I was glaring at him so much that I was shocked that he didn't turn into a pile of ash. Getting inches away from Dylan's face, I slapped him. "Stay if you want, but don't come cozying up to me." I walked away in silence. He just sat there in shock.

I walked into Angel and Nudge's room to tuck them in. Angel was in a pink nightgown that had a picture of the whole flock on it. The picture was taken when Fang was here and Dylan wasn't. Trying to be creative, I ironed on the picture to the dress and it came out remarkably well. My heart sank as I saw the picture of Fang.

"Sorry…" Angel muttered and jumped into her stuffed-animal infested bed.

I kissed Angel on her forehead, "Goodnight sweetie." She grabbed my hand and looked up at me pleadingly.

"Is he coming back…?"

I closed my eyes and fought back tears.

_Strong for the Flock. Strong for the Flock. Strong for the Flock._

"I am going to go look for him. I won't come back empty handed. I promise." I held out my pinky and she looped hers around it.

I walked over to Nudge's bed, but she was writing in her diary crying. "Max, I will talk to you in the morning. I am venting to my journal." I nodded and walked out of the room, turning out the lights.

Gazzy stood in the doorway of his and Iggy's room, "I want to help you find Fang." He said. His eyes were red and scraped. Almost as if Gazzy was trying to dry his eyes with sandpaper. Ow.

I took a deep breath and walked Gazzy to him bed. I looked down, then up at him, "I have to do this alone, Fang will notice six bird kids flying behind him. I will be able to catch up fast. Don't worry, by the end of the week I will try to have us both back." I kissed his forehead and walked out of the room.

Iggy nodded as I walked past him in the hallway.

In the living room, Dylan sat on the couch staring up at the ceiling. Pshhh. Like I would feel bad for him. Oh great… now I do for making that comment. I took a deep breath, stole a couple hundred dollars out of Jeb's (Our 'guardian') watch, and walked out the front door.

Great. Tonight I was planning on watching a good movie with the Flock; instead I am chasing after Fang, trying to keep him from running away.

I unfurled my giant wings and threw myself off of the porch and into the air. _Hello Insanity, my name is Maximum Ride…_


	2. Different Type of BirdKid

**Fang POV**

_If you stay, the Flock will die. Leave and your family will survive. _

Those words floated around my head as I flew further and further away from my loved ones. I had to stay away from the Flock, it was their own good.

Tears threatened to stream down my face as I flew faster and faster away from home. My heart felt like it was being ripped out. I am leaving Max, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. I'm leaving Max… I can't imagine what she is thinking right now. I said I wouldn't come back for twenty years, but even being away from twenty minutes was draining the life away from me. This was worse than when the Flock split up; at least I had Iggy and Gazzy then. Now I have no one. Trying to keep the emotions off of my face was physically impossible.

But why, Fang? Why leave when it is causing you and the Flock pain.

Because if I stayed, someone was going to kill them. I received a phone call when I got home after the wedding.

"_Hello?" I asked when I picked up._

_There was heavy breathing on the other side, then finally they spoke up, "Fang, hello. I am not going to tell you my name, but I am going to tell you a very important message." They paused and then started up. I was silent. "The Flock are all chipped, yes including you. I can tell at anytime where any of you are. I want you away from the Flock, or they will all die. I won't kill them fairly either. They will not even know they are dead when I killed them. If you stay, the Flock will die. Leave, and your family will survive." The voice stopped, waiting for my answer._

_My fists and jaw clenched, "Who the hell is this?" All that was running through my mind was the Flock being murdered in their sleep. Even though they were light sleepers, they could still easily be bombed. "How do you know this phone number?"_

_The voice on the other side laughed evilly, "Fang, just do what I instruct. Don't imply that you received this message, or they will die. We will be monitoring you for the next couple of hours. If you are not miles away from them, say bye bye Flock." The person hung up._

I was miles away from the Flock. Miles away from _Max_. At any moment I was willing to give up and just go back, but that would kill them all. Which would kill me on the inside. I shook my head. Quickly I pulled my wings in close to my back and started free falling. My life can't get any worse, so I might just have a little air before I d-…

_Ooof! _

Something hit me halfway through my fall. They were flying upwards and caught me. I outstretched my wings and began flying again. I just tried _killing myself._ What the hell, Fang? I looked at the thing that caught me. It was a girl. Not a human girl, no, this girl had wings. Her wings were longer than mine, longer by about a foot or so. She had light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was tall and muscular. If this girl had blonde hair, from behind she would look like Max. Oh shit… Max.

The girl stared at me, then three other figures started flying in behind her, "Who are you?" She said. She looked like she was seeing things.

I hovered in the air and looked at her. Her wings were huge. They were mostly black, but on the outside there were white feathers placed randomly. "I'm…" Should I tell her my real name? Might as well, "I'm Fang." I crossed my arms over my chest and switched my eyes over to the three other figures that joined us. They all looked at me like I was a freak. But we all had wings…

The girl nodded. "Hi," She said, "I'm Hawk." She smiled and looked at a little boy who looked about ten. He had shaggy brown hair and a darker blue shade of eyes."That's Xavier, my little brother." Hawk looked at a girl who was about my age, "This is Janie," Janie looked at me with giant brown eyes that matched her wings perfectly. She gave a small wave. Hawk looked at a boy who looked to be about twenty, "This is Josh." Josh looked like he could kick my ass, kill me, bring me back to life, and kick my ass again. I, the infamous Fang, just admitted that this guy scared the crap out of me. Josh had light green eyes, platinum hair, and he was _huge._

Hawk looked back at me, worried, "Why did you just fall out of the sky like that. You have wings and they seem to be working perfectly. Did you forget how to use them?" She asked sarcastically.

I gave a rare smirk, "No, I remembered how to use them. But I forgot that tonight's episode of _America's Next Top Model _was on, so I started diving down to get to the nearest TV possible." Sarcasm was practically dripping off of every word I said.

"Oh, you just want to know how to be fierce?" Hawk smiled and looked back at her own flock that was laughing behind her. "Let's go land, there are no clouds and someone is going to ask questions." Her flock nodded, but I was a little hesitant at first. Hawk noticed this and sighed, "We won't do anything bad. Promise." They all started flying down, and I slowly followed them.

We all landed in a cave that was… how do I put this? … decked out. There were beds, furniture, TV's, a kitchen. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. "Welcome to casa de la owl children." She smiled and shook her wings. So they are part owl. That would explain why their wings were so big.

"So, Fang." The little boy, Xavier, looked up at me. "Why are your wings so… small? Mine are almost as big as yours and I am only ten." Xavier spread out his huge snowy white wings. They were magnificent.

"I am part avian, not owl. You had owl DNA mixed with you. I had avian DNA mixed with me. An avian is much smaller than an owl. That would explain why my wings look tiny to you." I looked over at Josh who was spreading out his light brown, twenty foot wings. Yes, you heard me, _twenty foot wings._

Xavier said a little 'oh' and sat down on a bed.

"Why aren't you with a flock?" Janie said suddenly. How did I know this question was going to come up?

I was hoping someone would say 'that's none of our business', but they all just stared at me intently, waiting for an answer. I took a deep breath and began, "Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurt?" All of them seemed shocked that I started off my story like that, but they all nodded. "Well, I loved my Flock. A couple of hours ago, someone called our house and told me that if I didn't leave, they would all be killed. I could have stayed and tried to find out who called, but that would end up with my family ending up dead. I left, trying to get as far away from them as possible. Soon, I am going to find out who was threatening my loved ones." I bit my lip and looked down at the gravel. I was never that open to anyone, but Max. For some weird reason, I trusted these people.

They all nodded and sat down on their beds. Hawk was the first to speak up after the silence, "You can stay with us." She said. "We will do our best to help you and your flock. We will do some research tomorrow. Let's get some rest first. Would you mind sleeping on the couch, Fang?" She looked at me.

"A couch is better than a tree branch." I said. She nodded and laid down in her bed, as did the others.

I lay there on the couch, tired, but not able to fall asleep. I sat up slowly and walked to the mouth of the cave. The cave was a hole in a cliff, thousands of feet above the ground. I sat down and let my feet dangle off of the side. The stars and moon were shining down onto the meadow that was underneath me. The events of earlier today came flooding back to me. Max and I walking down the aisle at Total's wedding, Max looking gorgeous in her black dress, coming home because I hate dancing, getting that stupid call, leaving, and now ending up with a totally different flock of people. This was a very interesting, sad, heartbreaking, and awkward day.

My heart almost fell out of my butt when someone sat next to me. Hawk gave a small smile and looked out to the meadow. I didn't even hear her come up from behind me. "So, who is she?" She whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up.

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb." She said, "You tried killing yourself today, your speech had everything to do with loved ones, and you are sitting here deep in thought. Actually, you are in such deep thought that you didn't hear me come up behind you." Hawk smiled, "So, who is the girl who has your heart."

I sighed. Damn, this girl was a good emotion reader. "Her name is Max; Maximum Ride. I have known her since we were both genetically enhanced at a science lab in California. Isn't that romantic?" I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair.

There was silence for a few minutes. "Where are we anyway?" I asked her.

"North Dakota." She said. Hawk looked at me with her bright blue eyes, "How do the people who called you know if you are with your flock or not?"

My face was calm and cool, "The person who called me said it was because we are all chipped, but Max and I had received x-rays before and never once was there a chip on the picture. Well, actually, Max had a chip, but it was removed. She was the only one with a chip. That means the person is close to the Flock." I mentally went through the list in my head:

Jeb – No, it didn't matter how messed up Jeb was, he knows not to separate the Flock.

Dylan – No, he isn't smart enough… okay maybe he is, but just let me be happy with thinking he is dumb.

Dr. Martinez (Max's mom) - No, Max would kill me for even considering her.

Itex – Wait a second… I am going to keep them on the list. That is a giant group of crazy, messed up people.

My ex, Lissa – Just because you don't like her, Fang, it does not mean she will kill your family.

That list only left Itex. Why would Itex want me away from the Flock? I thought they wanted Max? And Itex isn't close to the Flock. So many questions, so little time.

"We should get to bed, I guess we can talk in the morning." Hawk said to me. "G'night."

"Good night." I said as I walked over and fell onto the couch, drifting into sleep. I had questions and if I didn't get answers soon; I think I would go insane.


	3. Regret

_I don't own Maximum Ride. I wish I owned it, but I do not. So, please don't read this and be all like "THIS HAPPENED IN THE NEXT BOOK!" because it didn't. So… bye. _

**Max POV**

Even in these circumstances, I still noticed the beautiful day that unfolded before me.

After searching the whole night for Fang, I spent the night in the woods. I stocked up on food at a deli not far from my rest place, and took off the next morning. The night went fairly well. I wasn't attacked or watched, so I was able to get a full night of rest. This morning I took off after eating about seven honey buns. The morning was gorgeous. The sky was a brighter blue than Angel's eyes. There were only a few puffy, white clouds in the sky. The air was nice and breezy when I soared through it. Even though the day was amazing, what was going through my head wasn't.

Fang left me. That one thought made the sky a shade of grey to me. The clouds seemed to turn black. Everything moved in slow motion as I looked for Fang. By now I was in Iowa. I had no idea why I was going in this direction, I just went that way. I have this feeling that Fang went this way and my gut feelings are not taken lightly. I was flying by a flock of eagles. I had never seen an eagle before, and now I was seeing at least seven of them. My wings flapped in sync with the eagles' wings. A tear streamed down my face. The flock wasn't here to stop me from crying, so I just let everything out. And everthing consisted of a lot of tears.

Hours later, the eagles went in a different direction and I was by myself. The sun was starting to set so I slowly descended down into a tree. A giant sign that stated: _Welcome to South Dakota! _Was a couple hundred yards away from me. I tried looking at the sign again. Why South Dakota? Fang would never be near the Dakotas'. Why did my senses take me in this direction? I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My dumb senses were taking me to a place Fang would never go to. But why did it feel so right? So close?

Great, Fang hasn't been gone for twenty-four hours and he is already driving me frikin insane.

**Iggy POV**

It was five o'clock in the damn morning, and I still haven't gone to sleep. I stayed in Max's room the whole time. I wanted to wait there until she and Fang were back in the house, safe and sound. But I couldn't. Max left me in charge, so I had to follow my orders and care for the Flock.

Everyone was in bed. Gazzy's snores could be heard from a mile away. I checked on Angel and Nudge a couple of minutes ago, they were tucked away in their beds fast asleep. Dylan was on the couch; he hadn't fallen asleep. I think he was still in shock from Max blowing up on him before. I felt bad for him, but at the same time I didn't. Fang was part of our Flock. Fang was actually party of our Flock a long time before Dylan was even created. Yet, Dylan wanted us to just drop Fang and let him go. The only reason I felt bad for him was because he had to put up with a mad Max.

I was just sitting awake in Max's room alone. I sat on her bed and leaned back against the pillow. A loud crackling noise came from under my butt and I shot up from the spot. I picked up her pillow and found a crumbled up, folded piece of paper. It was Fang's goodbye letter. It had to be since it was wet from tears. I started to cry. Ugh. Guys don't cry. It's number one in the rule book!

"Why do you feel sorry for him?" a voice asked from the doorway. I jumped out of the seat from fright.

"Did you intend on scaring the shit out of the blind kid? If you are approaching, have louder footsteps." I whisper-yelled at Dylan. I heard footsteps coming closer to me, so I backed up. "And I feel sorry for Fang because he is going to regret this once Max finds him."

"Max isn't going to find him." He said. He mumbled something under his breath. The four words that scared me the most were 'make' 'sure' 'she' 'wont'. I backed up even further from him and unfurled my wings. "He is a good hider." These are the times I wished I wasn't blind. Seeing Dylan's facial expression right now would help show that he is sympathetic or evil. The tone of his voice is indicating the latter though. Oh dear, oh dear.

I heard Dylan's own wings snap open. "Want to go for a fly?" He asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "No, I have kids to watch." I walked passed Dylan and into my room. You have no idea how badass I felt when I 'accidentally' bumped shoulders with Dylan as I walked out. But why was I acting like this to Dylan? He hadn't done anything to me, but he has been acting suspicious lately… he was acting most suspicious before fang left, when he got up from the wedding party to call someone.

**Max POV**

_Don't do it Max. Don't do it. You will regret it if you go after him._ I almost fell out of the tree. My voice was talking to me again. Yes, I have a voice inside my head that gives me advice. Lucky me. These were the times where I hated the voice's advice.

_Shut up._ I thought back, _I don't care if I regret going after him. He is coming back. He had to have left for some reason, and I am going to find that reason out. _I mentally flipped my voice off and relaxed. I was still sitting on a large branch in a tree just outside South Dakota. I was happy the voice didn't say anything; I wanted to be alone to my own thoughts for a while. A deep breath escaped me when leaned my head against the base of the tree.

He was near here. Fang was near me. This thought made me calm. There was no civilization near; there were just plains, trees, and one long road that no one traveled on. My eyes snapped open. Fang liked to be alone and calm. North Dakota was mostly farm land and woods. South Dakota was where the towns were. He _would _go to North Dakota to think. Wow. I came up with that by sitting in a tree. I felt close to him because North Dakota was one frikin state away! My wings snapped open and I jumped out of the tree. Strong winds blew in my face. I looked up to see a giant black cloud hovering in the sky. Well, I could travel in this. There is no civilization for a couple more miles, I can fly low.

As the first couple of rain drops fell, I gained more and more confidence that I would find Fang.


	4. Rammed Head On

**Fang POV**

My eyes cracked open. The first thing I saw was the cave ceiling. I gave a relieved sigh knowing that I hadn't been kidnapped or killed overnight. Slowly, I sat up and looked at the mouth of the cave. A giant thunder storm was raging outside.

"Sure am happy I didn't end up sleeping outside last night." I said. The rest of the occupants of the cave were asleep, but Josh.

"I'm going out for a little fly." He smirked and jumped out of the cave. He must have free fell for a while because I could hear the sound of wings whipping open after a couple of seconds. Josh came back into view, but he flew right into the huge black cloud.

"Wow. He must have had some crazy pills for breakfast." I muttered.

"Actually, he is going out to _get_ us breakfast." Xavier smiled from his bed. "Good morning, Fang." He sat up and looked at me. "Why did you choose that name? Fang… It sounds so… deadly." He took a deep breath and jumped out of his bed. Slipping on his shoes, he walked over to me and sat on the couch.

"Oh… yeah breakfast." I gave a small smirk. The smirk that used to drive Max crazy… Forget it, Fang. You had to leave. It's not like you were left by them; that would have been heart breaking. I mean, think about it. You are telling the girl you love how _much_ you love her and then they leave. Oh God… that's what Max thinks I did… It felt like a punch in the gut to come to this conclusion. I would have died on the inside if Max left me for no reason. And to her, I left her for no reason. My heart leapt out of my chest, ran to the cave opening, and jumped off. She is going to kill me, I am so—

"FANG!" Xavier yelled. I snapped out of my little trance and looked down at Xavier who was shaking his head. "I said your name like five times. What happened?"

"Nothing. Just thinking." I said coolly. Way to make a fool out of yourself, Fang!

He chuckled, "Well, why did you choose the name Fang?"

"It sounded cool. Also, people who were fighting me didn't want to be fighting someone named… Pebbles. Who do you think would win a fight? Fang or Pebbles?" I looked down at him, keeping a serious face. Xavier on the other hand, was laughing.

Xavier fell to the ground clutching his side, "Pebbles!" He laughed. "Never in my life would I have fought a person name Pebbles! So you're saying that you chose between Fang and Pebbles for your name?" Tears were coming out of his eyes, he was laughing so hard.

"No! I was just using a random name. It was between Fang and… wow. That's really cool." I blinked in confusion. I was going to call myself Hawk, but I thought that Fang was cooler.

"What? What's cool? What were you going to call yourself?" Xavier got up from the floor and sat back down on the couch.

"I was going to call myself Hawk, but I stopped and thought of Fang instead. Good thing, because that would be so weird; me having your sisters name." I smiled and looked at Xavier who cocked his head to the side.

"Wow. That _is _cool." He smiled, "You guys would have been boy Hawk and girl Hawk."

"Did someone call me?" Hawk stood behind the couch. Xavier and I jumped. Neither of us had heard her get up. Hawk raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "Boys…" She muttered as she walked back to her bed and grabbed a hoodie. Hawk looked at Janie, who was still fast asleep in her bed. "Xavier, go get a jacket on. It's cold up here and the last thing I need is you complaining all day. Fang, do you need a hoodie?" She looked at me as Xavier got up and pulled a sweat jacket out of a backpack.

"Uhmmm… sure." I said. Hawk walked over to her backpack, and pulled out a boy's jacket.

"I found it in a good will thing. It was too small for Josh, but too big for Xavier. I kept it because it fit me. I think it will fit you." She threw the black hoodie at me. I shrugged and put it on.

I nodded and zippered it up, "It fits fine." She looked at me and smiled.

"Josh should be coming back with breakfast soon. I think he goes to the supermarket a couple miles away. I really hope he took a jacket." She sat down on her bed and leaned back on the headboard.

"He didn't." Xavier and I said at the same time. Josh flew out in a dark blue t-shirt.

Hawk shook her head and closed her eyes. What time is it? I was still extremely tired, and so were the others. It was complete silence in the cave. The only thing you could hear was the pitter-patter of rain falling at the opening of the cave. 'Woah' could be heard from Xavier every time lighting flashed across the black sky. My eyes were fluttering closed when Janie screamed. She woke up and obviously, Janie hated thunder.

Sleep was basically out of the question when Janie woke up. She was like Nudge. She didn't _shut up_. My heart clenched at the thought of Nudge. I left my little sister, she is probably annoying Max to death. I sighed. Every thought came back to Max. I closed my eyes and sighed.

_Fang, I will eat you if you cry in front of them._ I thought to myself. Damn, I'm weird…

A few minutes later, Janie stopped talking and laid back down. Again, the only thing we heard was the thunder and rain… it was so calm.

**Max POV**

Why the hell do I end up flying in the middle of the biggest thunder storm I had ever seen? Because I am stubborn and thought I could do anything because I had a lead on where Fang was. Whoever is reading this, I give you permission to hit me upside the head later on. I was practically blinded by the dark skies. I reached North Dakota so I had to start flying in the clouds when I saw houses.

Are you one of those people that always wanted to touch a cloud? Well I have. It's not all rainbows and sunshine when you touch it. No, it's wet, cold, and one of the most unpleasant things to be in while flying. Dodging lighting is not fun my friend.

You know what else I hate about clouds? You can't see jack-shit. You are blinded the whole time, not only by the rain that flies into your eyes, but the mist is too thick.

It. Sucks.

You know what sucks more? When you run into something in the middle of a cloud. And that something happens to be winged.

_SMACK!_

Both, mystery person and I were falling from the sky at major speed. When I collided with this mystery person, I smashed my head into his elbow.

Knocking head into elbow = unconscious Max.

I free fell for a minute, which is a really scary thing. I felt like I was watching my body fall. The person I collided with swooped down and caught me. I looked up at their face and saw a guy. He looked older than me, but no more than twenty-two. He looked down at me with green eyes.

"Don't worry, I am taking you somewhere safe." He screamed over the thunder.

I nodded and passed out again.


	5. Lost and Found

_Thank you all of my reviewers! It's really nice of you to write sweet things about my story :D. Live Big, Fly On. _

**Max POV**

The guy who was carrying me landed inside a cave. The cave was warmer than the cold, wet afternoon air.

"I accidentally hit her while I was flying. She has wings too." The guy said urgently to a girl who rushed over to us. "I elbowed her in the back of the head; she got knocked out." The girl pushed my hair back out of my face. She looked at me with bright blue eyes.

She looked concerned, but relieved at the same time. "My name is Hawk. And the guy holding you is Josh." She said. "We are like you; we have wings. You don't have major head damage, but you are paler than a ghost." She gave me a quick, forced smiled and looked back at the couch… Couch? This is a frikin cave! There should be no furniture. Oh, but there was. There were things you would find lying around a house in this cave. I craned my neck to get a better look at the place. "Who are you?" Hawk asked me.

I cleared my throat, "My name is Maximum. Can you put me down?" I asked Josh. He nodded and slowly dropped me to my feet. At first I was dizzy, but after blinking many times I regained my balance.

Hawk walked over to a bed and grabbed clothes out of a bag. "Here, your clothes are soaked and you must be freezing. Put these on." She nodded towards an indent in the cave wall that had a curtain draped over it. "You can change in there." I nodded and walked over to the changing place and closed the curtain. When I put on the warm clothes, it felt like sunshine touched my body for the first time. The clothes were dry and warm. Hawk and I had the same simple style; a t-shirt, a light jacket, and jeans. I think I might like her.

I walked out of the curtained area and took a deep breath. A little boy stood before me. He smiled and waved, "Hi, I'm Xavier. You must be Maximum."

I nodded, "You can call me Max." I looked around the cave/home to get a better view of the exits. The only exit that was visible was the mouth of the cave. I tensed and looked down at Xavier. I didn't even think that these people could be dangerous when I first got here.

Xavier looked at me with a confused expression, but then it dawned on him what I was thinking, "Don't worry. I am on your side." He snapped out his wings. I was shocked, for his wings were the same size as mine, if not bigger. He had a giant scar going down his left wing. The shiny pink line was visible through the white plumage. "An eraser scratched my wing when I was younger. It took a couple of hours to stop the bleeding." He shook his head, "I wish Erasers were still here though, now we have to deal with indestructible robots chasing after us. Erasers were easier to hurt." Xavier gave a small smirk.

I was staring at his wings, which he noticed, "Why are they so big?" I asked quietly.

He turned his head to look at his snow white wings, then he looked back at my light brown ones, "Well, someone who is staying with us now has the same kind of wings you have. Well they are small like yours. We are part owl; you are part of a different bird I am guessing." Oh… "You guys actually have similar wings, only his are black."

My heart stopped. Black wings the size of mine? "What is this person's name?" I looked at Xavier urgently. He was about to answer when someone called out my name.

"Max?" It was his voice. Oh my, God. I found him…

**Fang POV**

After a couple minutes I fell asleep to the soft drum of the rain. The couch was amazingly soft, which meant I slept in a deeper sleep than usual. I dreamed of Max, of course.

In the dream, she looked more beautiful than ever. Her dark blonde hair looked like silk that hung over her shoulders, her brown and white wings were outstretched fully. Max looked like a goddess on earth. The dream was basically about Max finding me, which she never would… Dream Max walked over to me and started shaking me. "Fang!" She said

The Dream Max shook me more and more; coming back to my senses, I realized someone in real life was shaking me. My eyes snapped open and saw Hawk leaning over me with her hands on my shoulders. "You are a very heavy sleeper." She said. "You think that fighting off scientists for your whole life would cause you to wake up in an instant." Hawk shook her head and released my shoulders.

"Blame this couch; it's the most comfortable thing ever. I usually wake up if a piece of dust lands on me." I sat up. "Why did you wake me up from a good dream? I will only accept the answer of breakfast."

She chuckled and looked toward the other side of the cave, "No, Josh dropped breakfast on the way here. He… ran into something important." Hawk smiled brilliantly. "Get up, I have a present for you."

She started walking away. I wanted to lie back down and get back to my dream when I heard there was no breakfast, but a present would be nice too… Slowly, I stood up from the super comfy couch and rubbed my sleepy eyes. I walked in the direction Hawk went, but stopped halfway through the cave. I saw Xavier talking to a girl. The girl's back was facing me, but I knew it was her.

Maximum Frikin Ride was standing in front of me talking to Xavier. What the hell? I have been gone one night and she already found me! I never really was good at hide and seek… I should have gone to Bangladesh or somewhere across the world. Max would never have found me there. Well, Max probably would never have found me here either. How in the world did she find me?

_Fang, just say her name. And when she turns around, DO NOT CRY. _

I took a deep breath.

Then another.

One more deep breath…

I was about to turn around and run back to the couch and hide when my mouth betrayed me, "Max?" I asked.

She turned around to look at me. It _was _her. Max's mouth fell open; her eyes were wide.

"Fang!" She yelled. She didn't cry, but because I knew her, I could tell she was using all of her force not too. Xavier looked at me and Max with a confused expression. Hawk must not have told him that she was the girl I fell in love with. Within seconds, you saw realization flash across Xavier's face like a light bulb flashed above his head. He slowly backed away towards a different section of the cave.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked her. I kept my face expressionless, but my eyes were filled with emotions. Max looked straight into my eyes and knew I was on the verge of tears. Me, Fang, about to cry; that was something people would pay millions to see. She nodded and walked towards me. She stopped about a foot away from me and turned to look at the four sets of owl-kid eyes that stared at us from behind the couch. She looked up at me, and I nodded. Slowly, we both walked towards the cave's mouth and unfurled our wings. Max flew out of the cave first, not wanting to look me in the eyes. It hurt to see she didn't want to make contact with me, but I understood completely. _I_ left _her._

I dove out of the cave and didn't flap my wings for a couple seconds after my descent. Max was already on the ground when I landed. The rain lightened up, but not by much.

Max finally looked at me. My knees almost buckled when I saw the pain in her eyes, "Can you please… explain." A tear escaped her eye. You could tell it was a tear and not a raindrop because she tried wiping it away before I could see it. I grabbed the hand that tried wiping away the tear. She shivered at my touch.

I bit my lip and let go of her hand, "I left for your guy's safety." I took a deep breath and looked down. Water dripped off of my black hair. I couldn't look in her eyes anymore; I felt like the biggest jerk on earth. An even bigger jerk than the white coats all put together…

"How is leaving and ripping our hearts out better for our safety? What were you thinking, Fang?" Her voice cracked when she said my name. I couldn't look at her. It caused more pain than being punched in the gut. I would rather be set on fire than have to deal with emotional pain. I stayed silent.

"Look at me, Fang…" She said.

I shook my head and kept my gaze locked on the soaked grass.

"Please, Fang… Just please look at me." She put her hand under my chin and lifted it. I looked straight at her. A tear left my eye. I am Fang, the guy who never showed emotion to anyone. Yet again, Max got me to express emotions I thought I never had.

I couldn't handle it anymore; I pulled Max into a huge hug and dug my face into her shoulder, "I left to keep you alive. I left because I love you all and me being with you would kill you." Another tear escaped.

"Fang, if you loved me… you wouldn't have left. You would have stayed and explained what dangers we were going to be in." Max started shaking.

My heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. She did think I didn't love her… I crushed her heart. I pushed Max up against the cliff wall and looked straight into her eyes, "Max, I love you so much it hurts. Just trust me, I am putting you in danger." I closed my eyes and opened them, fighting my own war with my watery eyes. "Being away just one night is killing me, but if I stayed, it would be killing you."

Max shook her head and sighed. There was silence for a few seconds. We never broke the position we were in. Finally she spoke, "I love you too." She bit her lip and pulled me closer. My breathing was out of control. If we kissed, I would never want to leave her. I couldn't resist it, I loved her too much. But I needed to have Max.

Our faces were inches away from each other. I leaned my head down and kissed her lightly. My heart swelled up to the size of a balloon. I was with Max. The giant crack that was increasing in size in my heart was being mended. Max had that power on me; she could fix any problem ever. Our lips parted. She trembled when I put my hands on her hips.

"What drove you away from me…?" She whispered. The sound of the rain almost drowned out the question, but I was able to just barely hear it.

"I got a call. When I got home from the wedding, someone called and told me that if I stayed they would kill the Flock. The person said that they knew if I left or not because we were all chipped and being watched, but we can't be chipped. You and I got x-rays from your mom, and I was chip-less and you only had the one that was removed. I think they were lying; it has to be someone close to us. The person is connected to the Flock. I left you a note, trying to explain as much as I could. The call said not to tell you about the message." I leaned my head on her shoulder.

Max wrapped her arms around my neck, "I-I'm sorry I got mad at you. It just broke my heart." She lifted up my head and kissed me. I pulled her closer; so close that there was no space in-between us. The kiss had so much emotion behind it. I lifted my hand to the spot in the middle of her wings. I massaged the muscle there, just like I did when we were at with each other. She gave a small smile.

The kiss ended sadly. Max looked up at me, "Can you come back. I can't leave without you. I won't leave without you."

I squeezed my eyes closed, "I can't go home, but I can fly you home. I'm going to take this phone call seriously, Max. I will fly you to the bottom of the porch of the house. Tell Angel to tell the Flock through telepathy why I left. Whoever called me is watching you guys." Max shut her eyes. They stayed shut for a couple more seconds.

"Okay…" She barely got out of her mouth.

I nodded and kissed her again. I did not intend on wasting my valuable time with her.


	6. Fighting Back Tears

**Iggy POV**

I sat down on the couch listening to the TV. It has been a night and Angel hasn't sensed Max anywhere near here. I sighed. Maybe no trace of Max means she is on the right track to find Fang. Maybe she found Fang… Keep on dreaming Iggy. My heart skipped a beat as someone sat down next to me. I was in such deep thought that I didn't even hear them coming.

"Iggy…" I heard Angels faint little voice from next to me. I turned my head in the directions of Angel and smiled.

"What's up, hun?" I sat up from my laying position and took a deep breath. Something is telling me that Angel is going into little, defenseless girl mode.

She put her hand on top of mine and sighed, "I want everything back to normal. Like we were right after Jeb left us. I want Max and Fang here. I want us all too only have each other. I want you to cook us dinner every night instead of Max's mom coming over and doing it. I want Max and Fang to be happy and at home. I hate all of the peoples thoughts running through my head." She leaned her head on my shoulder, "I just want to go home, Iggy." She sniffled and pulled me into a big hug. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

What would Max do in this situation? I let go of the hug and squeezed Angel's small hand, "I don't know if this will fly with Max, but I will ask her if we can get away from all of this new stuff. I agree, we should go back to our old lives, but we need a little time to think about such a big change. Where would we go? Our house was burned down by Erasers." I tried to look as sincere as a father would be.

Angel's hand lifted out of mine and brushed the hair out of my face, "The hawk cave. Do you remember the cave that Fang and Nudge stayed in when they were looking for me? The one that was filled with hawks. Then you and Gazzy showed up there too? Well that place felt more like home than anything I have ever imagined. I want to go there, that is home." She sniffled again and stretched out her arms.

That was a magnificent idea. Everyone loved the hawk cave. It felt _truly_ like home there; the house we were in now was like a vacation home. A vacation home in the middle of nowhere. But it wasn't… home.

I took a deep breath. We sat there in silence thinking about what it would be like to live in the cave. Finally I spoke up, "Angel, what time is it?"

She shrugged then looked in another direction, "About ten, why?"

I rolled my eyes, "Because your bedtime was thirty minutes ago, that's why." I smiled and leaned my head back on the head rest of the couch.

"Oh, come on, Iggy! Let a girl live a little. I shouldn't have a bedtime! Normal six year olds have bedtimes because they have to worry about preschool, which I am insanely jealous of, but not me. I am a six year old mutant bird-kid who has to worry about getting shot or kidnapped every morning. See, no need for a bedtime." She took a deep breath, happy with her excuse.

"Yeah, if you have to worry about being kidnapped every morning, you can't be tired. So come on," I patted her back, "off to bed you go." I gave a small smile as she sighed and got up.

"Good night, Iggy." Angel said. She wrapped her small arms around my neck and gave me a big hug.

"Night, Angel. " I said tiredly.

"Sweet dreams; don't let the bed bugs attack." I smiled as she went off to her room.

Little did I know, more than bed bugs were going to be trying to attack me tonight.

**Max POV**

If you know Fang well, you would know that he never cries. Ever. Fang has barely even shown emotion, let alone crying. But here he was, kissing me and crying at the same time. It really is extraordinary. It broke my heart to see Fang in this state, but the sight was… beautiful. Fang has a silent cry, not one of those loud, obnoxious ones. The tears just stream down his face; if you were blind, you wouldn't know he was crying at all.

I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. The rain was still pouring down, but I didn't care. I had Fang. For now.

I hated this whole situation. Fang had to stay away from me because it could risk the Flock's lives. Why am I not able to find out who is threatening Fang? Why can't I just ask Angel to read every mind we suspect? To tell you the truth, I don't know. Fang took this so seriously and I praised him for it, but that doesn't take away the hurt from not seeing him.

How was I going to carry on with this plan? Fang wanted to fly me back home, and then leave me again. Something was going to go wrong. I was going to go wrong. I had another one of my famous gut feelings that said I wasn't going to handle him flying away from me.

I shook my head and closed my eyes, "We can't just live a normal life, can we?" I asked him, pulling my head off of his shoulder. "We can't be happy. Someone always has to ruin things. Not once in my life has it been easy for us." I bit my lip to keep me from crying again. "I-I want to be… n-normal." Tears threatened to form in my eyes, but I fought them back with all of my will.

Fang was the only one who I could tell this to. I love the Flock, I really do. But Fang is the only person who I can trust with my emotions. I took a deep, shaky breath. He looked down at me and hugged me. He kissed my forehead and looked up at the grey skies that were pouring water on us.

Fang and I didn't come out of that hug for a couple of minutes. I was almost scared shitless when Fang started turning invisible before my eyes. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Fang has a superpower that lets him become invisible when he is immobile. Fang chuckled at my facial expression and moved. He appeared right before my eyes again and sighed, "We should really be getting back to the cave" Fang slowly grabbed my hand and opened up his wings. The rain drops made his wings look like black water; it was mesmerizing. I nodded and opened up my own wings. Together we started running and jumped; flapping quickly, we stared flying towards the mouth of the cave.

When we landed, the owl kids were sitting on the couch watching the TV that amazingly worked, even thought there couldn't possibly be cable up here. Hawk turned her head and smiled at us.

"God, I have to get you guys _more_ clothes. You're soaked! This isn't a charity here, people." Her tone was light, so you could tell she was joking. The rest of the owl flock looked back at us and smiled.

"You guys looked like you had a little fun." Janie said, giggling.

"Shut up," Josh said. He hit her arm and they got into a mock-wrestling fight. I secretly cheered on Janie, who was straddling Josh, who was pinned on the floor. Xavier rolled his eyes and walked over to sit down on his bed.

Fang's hand tightened on mine. I looked up into his eyes and gave a small smile that he returned. Hawk looked down, then back at us. Fang looked at Hawk and got a serious expression on his face. He was about to ask her to come drop me off with him.

"Yes." Hawk said.

Fang raised his eyebrow, completely confused. Xavier just smiled from his bed, "She didn't tell you yet?" Fang shook his head and Xavier got a sly smile on his face. It was awesome that a ten year old could be this cool. "She is a mind reader. And I hate her for it." Xavier stuck his tongue out at his sister and laughed when she did the same.

She was like Angel… We needed to get Angel to meet Hawk; Angel had so many questions about mind reading that I couldn't answer.

Hawk smiled, "So, yes, we can go back with you. All of us can go. We haven't been on a good trip in weeks." Janie and Josh stopped wrestling at the word 'trip'. "But can we leave tomorrow? I'm not a big fan of flying in thunderstorms. Max and Josh's crash in the air should be an example for that." I looked at Josh, but he just smiled.

So it was official, Fang got to fly me back home. But would I follow him back to the cave after that?


	7. Unwanted Dog

**Max POV**

That night was a sleepless one for Fang and I. Both of us knew that we were going to separate again. Looking at Fang made me feel like I was going to explode. It was possible I wouldn't see him for another _twenty_ years after this.

It was about midnight and everyone in the cave was asleep except for Fang and I. The thunder storm had died down to barely even a drizzle. Sitting at the mouth of the cave, Fang grabbed my hand and squeezed it, "I won't stop until I find out who is doing this." He whispered, not wanting to wake the others. "I won't stop until I can be with you again, Max." I looked over at him. His long black hair was draping into his eyes, covering whatever emotion that was hiding in them.

I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder, "Fang, I know. I just wish we would find out quicker. I don't think I can wait longer than a week for you…" My voice cracked making me sound more vulnerable than I already was. "I miss you too much." I looked up into his eyes. My heart was shrinking. His dark eyes looked like a black abyss; an abyss I wouldn't mind getting lost in.

Fang leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips. I would miss everything about him. I would miss the way he kissed. I would miss the way his lips felt on mine. I would miss the way he smelled. I would miss the way he drove me insane. I would miss his sarcastic comments. I would miss him.

The kiss intensified quickly. I ran my fingers through his hair; there were unbelievably no knots in it whatsoever. Fang wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. There was about an inch of space in between him and me. He pulled out of the kiss and stared into my eyes. He smiled and kissed me again. Fang laid down, his back flat against the cave floor and I was on top of him. He put his hand on my back and pulled me closer, leaving no space between us at all.

The only thing that mattered to me was Fang. We were both so preoccupied with our kiss that we forgot we were sitting at the mouth of a cave. The mouth of a cave that was thousands of feet above the ground. With one large roll, both of us fell out of the cave. It caught both of us off guard, but we snapped our wings open and hovered in the air for a moment.

I stared at him and ran my fingers through my dark blonde hair. I went through the events that just happened in my head. We kissed. Check. I was on top of him. Check. We rolled. Check. Fell out of the cave… Check.

I shook my head in disbelief and started laughing. Fang looked at me and smirked. "Did we just fall out of a cave because we were _kissing_?" He asked.

I looked at the opening of the cave that was about a hundred feet above us, "Yes." I said, laughing. "We have to watch out about that…" Fang smiled at me. Not a smirk, a smile. Fang actually showed his teeth in this smile. Never in my life had I seen him smile like that. It was an accomplishment to get him to lift the corner of his mouth into a smirk. But he flashed his perfect teeth at me.

Smiling back, I flew over and hugged him. Fang wrapped his arms around me and looked up at the night sky. "Max, we are going through so much. We love each other… can our love survive?" He asked me, sounding very poetic. What he said made my stomach flutter. He didn't doubt that we loved each other, but he was asking if it would stay that way.

"What do you mean?" I said slowly.

"I want to know something…" He took a deep breath and kissed my forehead. "You don't think anyone can get in between us… right?" My mind instantly went to Dylan. Fang was still worried I preferred Dylan over him.

I cupped his cheek in my hand, "Absolutely no one can beat your awesomeness." I kissed him. I had never kissed Fang while flying, but I wish I had done it more often. It was the most heart-fluttering feeling you could possibly get. His kiss made me feel like flying, but I already was. Fang closed his wings around us, still flapping gently. The kiss felt relieved. Fang knew that Dylan couldn't possibly get in the way of me and him and that is all that mattered.

_I really think you should stop making out. Xavier is freaking because he thinks Fang is eating your face. _I was surprised to hear Hawk talking in my head, but I remembered she could read minds and talk telepathically to people.

I was reluctant at first, but I slowly ended the kiss and leaned my forehead on his. His breathing was deep and controlled, unlike my rapid and shallow breathing.

"Why did you stop…?" Fang asked me.

I smiled, "Because Hawk told me to." I started to fly up to the cave.

He looked confused at first, but then he looked up to the mouth of the cave where Hawk was standing. She had a big grin on her face as she stared down at us. Fang sighed and started flying up towards the cave with me.

"Why are you guys up? It's almost one in the morning." Fang asked as he landed in the cave with me. He retracted his wings and stared at Hawk.

"We are leaving to get Max home in about five minutes. My flock went to bed at about five o'clock last night. That's enough sleep. Also we don't want to be seen. The clouds are receding like a seventy year old man's hair." Hawk looked back at the owl kids who were throwing two days worth of clothes into small sacks.

I smirked and looked up at Fang, "I guess I am going home faster than we expected." He looked down at me; his face was totally free of emotions, but his eyes showed how disappointed he was. I shrugged, "Do… do you think you can talk to the flock. They are going to kill me when they find out that I found you and didn't let them talk to you."

Fang sighed and sat down on Janie's bed, "Maybe… I am doing this for their safety. If the person is someone close to us, then you are going to say you never found me and you gave up and went back home." I nodded as my heart clenched. The image of Iggy popped into my head.

I remembered when Iggy went on his rampage because Fang left. He punched all of the walls and bloodied up his knuckles. If Iggy knew that Fang was staying away for the flock's safety, he would go on another rampage. Not only because he feels that he doesn't need anyone's protection, but also because he misses Fang too.

There were a couple of moments of silence when Hawk finally broke in, "We should leave now. I don't want to wait much longer. I don't want it to be past dawn when we get to Max's house." Hawk stopped talking. Her forehead creased, "Uhm… Max? Where _do_ you live? We just know that we are dropping you off somewhere."

"Colorado." I said. "I can lead us to the house."

Hawk nodded and pulled her light brown hair into a ponytail. "It should be about dawn when we get there then." Her bright blue eyes looked grey from the shading in the cave. The rest of her flock put their backpacks on and looked and Fang and I.

"Let's go." Hawk said. One by one, the owl children jumped out of the cave and unfurled their gigantic wings. Fang and I followed. I flew a little faster than usual to get next to Hawk, who was leading everyone. "Just point me in the direction of the house whenever we need to make a turn."

I nodded. The flight was going pretty well, until another figure came flying at Hawk and I. It was a winged person…

_Oh great_, I thought. _This is just what I need right now._

**Iggy POV**

Have you ever woken up because someone punched you in the back of your head? No? Well neither have I… until now.

I shot up from my sleeping position and grabbed the back of my head. When I pulled my hand away, I felt a liquid too dense to be water. Blood was pouring out of the back of my head… Just great.

"Who is there?" I asked.

A harsh laugh came from across the room; it sounded… animalistic. Especially because they _growled_.

"Who are you?" I asked, louder this time.

I heard footsteps coming towards my door. The door went flying open. Gazzy's sleepy voice had a shocked tone, "Iggy… there's an Eraser!" He said. No wonder they sounded like an animal… "I thought they were all killed!" He yelled. The cruel laugh came from across the room again.

"Obviously we were not all killed if I am standing here. Blind one," The eraser said, regarding me. What the hell? Blind one? "Gather the children, you are coming with me."

I didn't bother to hide the laugh that crept up my throat, "Are you insane? I would never just hand the Flock over to you!" The Eraser growled at me, obviously not liking my refusal. "You are insane…" I whispered. The Eraser must have heard it because he punched the wall in anger. Two more pairs of footsteps came running down the hallway. Angel and Nudge stopped in the doorway.

"Holy shit!" Nudge yelled.

"Mouth!" I yelled at her. Nudge was twelve, she shouldn't be cursing. I don't care if she is a mutant bird kid or not, Max's rules are that you have to be older than fourteen to curse. Max may not be here to correct Nudge, but I am.

"Sorry…" She muttered, "But why is there a frikin Eraser standing in your room?"

"Iggy…" Angel muttered.

"There is an Eraser in my room because it wants to take the Flock to…" I turned my head into the direction of the Eraser, wishing I could see its facial expression of our bickering over the curse.

"Itex." It said. I rolled my eyes. Please! I would never go voluntarily to Itex. This thing must be nuts.

"Iggy…" Angel said again.

"Why are you not destroying the thing as we speak?" Nudge asked. The Eraser growled at her and moved closer to the doorway.

"Stop right there dog-boy." I hissed at him, "Take one more step towards them and you will be blown to bits. I mean it."

It took a few steps back.

"Iggy!" Angel yelled at me.

"What?" I yelled back.

She didn't have to tell me. Gazzy snuck his way over to the side of the room that the Eraser was on. He was silent as he was doing this, for I didn't hear him walking away from me.

_Don't look surprised that he is there. The Eraser doesn't know he is over there yet. It was too preoccupied with your and Nudge's bickering. _Angel said to me through telepathy. _He is going to sneak a grenade into its pocket and kick it out the window. _I gave a slight nod.

"So, what's your name?" I asked the Eraser, trying to make small talk while Gazzy slipped the bomb into its pocket. The Eraser obviously wasn't expecting me to ask him that, because he stuttered.

"Uh…well…it is…Bob…" It replied. Nudge didn't hold back. She laughed so hard that she fell to the floor.

"Bob!" She breathed, "That's not possibly your name!" She couldn't hide her giggles, they were flowing out of her mouth like a river. She stopped laughing as the Eraser ferociously snarled.

I narrowed my eyes towards the Eraser. Nudge was right… that couldn't possibly be his name. He just came up with it on spot, and for some reason that name was the first thing that came to his head. He was lying about his name… why would he lie about his name? It's not like we aren't already going to hate you, telling us your name won't make us hate you any more. That means it was afraid to give out their real identity. But why?

The Eraser snarled, probably from hearing the window being opened and having something shoved into its jeans. Before the Eraser could do anything, he was thrown out of the window by four bird kids. None of us looked out of the window as the explosion occurred. Nothing could have survived that. Nothing.

For some reason I felt like someone was missing… I went through the names of the Flock.

Max- Finding Fang.

Fang- Being Found by Max.

Me- Of course I am here!

Nudge- Next to me.

Gazzy- Laughing hysterically on the floor from the Erasers sudden death.

Angel- Next to Nudge.

Dylan- Unknown.

"Where is Dylan?" I asked suddenly. "He couldn't have possibly slept through that."

As if to answer my question, Dylan came running through my door.

_He looks like a mess._ Angel said to me. _He has black marks all over him and his clothed. There is ash in his hair and burns everywhere. _

"Did you guys see that explosion out there?" Dylan asked. "I was out for a nighttime fly and I was flying past the side of the house when someone fell on me. I saw it was an Eraser and dropped it, then he exploded! I was able to get away just in time!... What happened to your head, Iggy?" Oh shit… Dylan got caught in the path of the bomb. Oops. Even worse, I felt the blood trickling down my back. I sighed and pulled off my t-shirt and pressed it to the back of my head.

Gazzy whistled and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, we probably can't get sleep after that. Let's go have a talk in the living room about this all." I sighed as Gazzy recommended blowing things up instead… That doesn't sound that bad of an idea – no Iggy. No blowing things up while Max is gone. Well, other than that Eraser.

"Actually, I am going to go for another fly. That Explosion got my adrenaline pumping, I'm going to go wear myself out." I raised my eyebrows as Dylan walked away from my doorway and out of the house.

I gave the Flock a confused look, "I just shrugged, Iggy." Angel said, informing me what she did because I couldn't see it. I took a deep breath.

"Well, we have to talk about what we are going to do if Max doesn't come back in a week. I am getting worried. This is the second night she has been gone and I don't like it one bit." I said.

"Okay." Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy said at the same time.


	8. Can't Be Dead

Sorry I haven't been updating as usual as I do! My schedule has been so hectic lately! 

**Max POV**

Hawk and I exchanged quick glances and ducked out of the way before the person could run into us. The person soared past the both of us. Our attacker had dark olive skin and short black hair. His wings were a nice chocolate brown color. I would have admired his flying skills is he wasn't _attacking_ us.

Because the attacker missed us, he flew into Janie and pulled her into a choke-hold. Before Josh, Xavier, or Fang, who were flanking Janie, could do anything, the attacker poked her on the forehead.

_Wow…_ I thought. _You need to get a fighting instructor. Poking a person isn't going to do any—_

I stopped mid-thought because the attacker let go of Janie. It would have been a good thing if she wasn't unconscious. What did he do to her? All he did was poke her head. Josh went into a fast dive and caught Janie hundreds of feet above the ground. The attacker turned to me and smiled, "Maximum Ride."

I raised my eyebrows, about to say a sarcastic come-back when he started flying at me at full speed. This guy was _fast_. My super-speed flying couldn't match this person's flying. He had to be flying at about 300 mph! Before I could do anything, I was in his hold. He took out a giant pin, grabbed the tips of my wings, and pinned the two tips together. I screamed in pain. He _had _to stick the pin right into a nerve. For those of you who don't know, when the tips of your wings are stuck together, you can't flap. No flapping only gets you one place in life, and that is the ground.

"Goodbye Maximum." The attacker said as he let me go. His head snapped toward Hawk, who was already flying toward him, throwing punches and kicks.

I started falling. _Oh God. Oh God. Oh God._ I looked up at Fang who was diving down towards me. He beat his wings, forcing him down towards me further. That did it, because he swooped down under me and unpinned my wings. I started flapping them rapidly, "Thank you." I yelled down at Fang. Fang nodded and flew down to Josh, who was carrying an unconscious Janie.

I flew up to Hawk and the jack-ass who pinned my wings. He got a good punch on Hawk, sending her a couple of feet down. The attacker was already on his way to his next victim. Xavier was flying out in the open; an easy target for the attacker. I shook my head and started flying up faster than I ever flew before. A couple of feet away from Xavier, I ran full on into the attacker. His head snapped back towards me. I blocked every punch he threw at me. While I was blocking a kick, I saw his finger moving towards my forehead. He was trying to do whatever he did to Janie to me. Ha-ha, no way in frikin hell. I grabbed his finger and snapped it in half.

Let me tell you this, I take injuries fairly well. This guy's finger made me want to throw up. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. He didn't even flinch when he looked at it. The attacker caught me off guard and punched me in the face. I flew back from the power of the punch. Out of nowhere, Fang flew up behind the attacker and grabbed his wings. Fang took the pin that was in my wings before and put it in the attacker's wings. He didn't even gasp as the pin pierced through his wing's muscle. The attacker free-fell for a moment, none of us bothered to help him. A few hundred feet above the ground, with a force greater than God himself (not literally) the attacker whipped open his wings, ripping the flesh that was pinned back. Ow. The attacker flew away so fast that he passed the horizon within seconds.

I looked back at the owl kids who were flying down to the ground. Fang and I exchanged looks that said this couldn't be good. Both of us flew down to the corn fields that were below us. On the ground, Josh was setting Janie on the floor carefully. Xavier and Hawk were kneeling beside her, checking for a pulse or breathing. Fang and I stood there as a scared look came across both Xavier and Hawk's faces.

"No pulse…" Hawk said.

"Not breathing…" Xavier replied.

My eyes went wide and I grabbed Fang's hand. He squeezed my hand for comfort. She couldn't be _dead_. He poked her for shit's sakes! What can that do to a person? I looked at her forehead closely and noticed a small bump there; it had a small hole in the middle of it. I let go of Fang's hand and kneeled next to Janie's head.

"She was injected with something…" I said pointing to the small hole on her forehead. "He must have had something on his fingers. I—I don't know what to say." I bowed my head and stood up, trying my best to get away Janie's lifeless body. Hawk and Xavier stood next to Josh. Josh had a tear rolling down his cheek. We all bowed our heads in respect. I could see it in Xavier's eyes that he was using his force not to scream like a child. No one would hold it against him, he was ten. You can't do everything. Fang did the unexpected and hugged Xavier. The little boy couldn't take it anymore and broke down crying. Fang smoothed down Xavier's hair and muttered that everything would be okay. Josh looked up at the sky and said a silent prayer. Hawk stood there with her hands in fists. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and turned around and flew away in the direction the attacker flew off in.

Hawk was over the horizon in seconds. The adrenaline and the rage were pumping through her blood. She couldn't handle it. Her best friend's death was going to tear her up on the inside. If she found the attacker, I had no doubt she would kill him.

**Hawk POV**

_He won't live. He will pay. Janie, I promise, I will avenge your death. You weren't meant to be the one who was killed, I was. He was after me and I jumped out of the way like a child. I swear, I will kill him…_

Tears were flowing out of my eyes. I grew up with Janie. We were dog crate buddies. I didn't even think we would get a scratch on this trip, and now Janie was dead. I would find the person who did this. I was miles away from the Flock. I stopped over a canyon and saw a person sitting on the ledge of it. It was the attacker. The hair color was the same, the same olive skin, and the wings were torn from where he ripped the pin out. I dove out of the air and tackled him, causing us to both fall into the canyon. We were free-falling. I punched his jaw and heard a giant _CRUNCH!_ I shivered at the fact that he didn't even yelp. Pain resistant much? I whipped out my wings and fought him midair. Kicks, flips, punched, biting, elbowing, kneeing, etc. Every fighting move you can think of, I used on this sorry son of a bitch.

He started falling out of the sky, but I wasn't done with him. I swooped down and punched him in the face. Blood gushed out of his nose. I let him fall for a while again, but I flew down and slammed him into the canyon wall.

"You…took…away…my…best friend!" I screamed in between punches. I remembered Max saying something about injecting her with something on his fingers. I picked up his hand and examined his index finger. There was a minuscule needle sticking out of the tip of it. Clenching my jaw, I punched him in the face again.

I looked straight at the boy, one moment he was dark skinned and dark haired, and then for a second his hair was blonde. His eyes were blue and his skin was a light caramel. He was not the same person that attacked us a second ago. But as fast as the blonde haired-blue eyed boy appeared, he turned back into the dark skinned enemy. In shock I let go of him and let him fall.

I didn't care. I didn't want to care. I flew to the top of the canyon and started crying my eyes out.


	9. My Little Secret

**Max POV**

Janie's body was under a sheet that Josh brought along with him in his backpack. We couldn't look at her lying there. Josh and Xavier hadn't left Janie's side since Hawk flew off hours ago. I wanted to give Hawk some space, but hours had gone by and there was still no sign of her. Fang, who was trying to comfort Xavier, walked over and sat down next to me. We didn't talk; we didn't have to. I knew what was going through his head at that moment. I didn't know Janie for all that long, but she was always happy and optimistic. Janie reminded me so much of Nudge that it hurt to think of a soul like that dead.

"I didn't know you could care for people like that." I said, looking at Xavier, who was drifting off to sleep.

Fang draped his arm around my shoulder, "I can comfort people when the time comes. Everyone can. It's a natural instinct." He sighed and looked at me. "I know I should probably do this, but I want you to. Can you go find Hawk? I want to stay here and make sure Josh and Xavier don't go nuts." He looked me in the eyes when I nodded. "Thank you." He said before he kissed my cheek and walked over to a half awake Xavier.

"I'm going to go look for Hawk." I announced to Josh. He nodded his head, not looking away from Janie's body.

I ran in the direction Hawk went and opened my wings. Finding Hawk was all a blur. I don't even remember taking off into the air. All I remember is feeling the wind blow all of the tension away while I was flying. After a few minutes, I saw a giant canyon. Someone was laying at the top of it, curled up in the fetal position, crying. The huge black and white wings gave away that the person was Hawk. Seeing Hawk in this state made me have a lot of respect for her. She didn't cry in front of her flock. She waited until she was alone to let her feelings out. She wasn't all that different from me. I landed a few feet away from her. When my feet thudded on the ground, her head turned toward me. Tears mixed with dirt stained her cheeks. I walked over to her and sat down. We didn't say anything at first but finally she spoke up.

"Sorry you had to see me like this." She sighed and wiped her face with her shirt sleeve. "Usually I keep my composure." Another sigh. "I found the attacker. I beat the sucker into a pulp." A small smile leaked onto her face. "It was really weird though… I slammed him into the canyon wall and got a good look at him. At first he was the guy who attacked us, but then… he changed."

My forehead creased, "Excuse me? He _changed_? Like appearance?" That's extremely confusing.

She nodded, "Yeah. At first he was the dark skinned-dark haired guy and then his hair became blonde, his skin a light pink, and his eyes were blue." Hawk rubbed her temples. "Then as soon as the blonde-haired boy came, he turned into the guy who attacked us again. I dropped him in shock. I didn't see if he got away or not. I'm pronouncing him dead; he was unconscious when I dropped him."

Well then… How could a person change their appearance in a split second? Is it possible Itex created shapeshifters? My eyes went wide. A distant memory came to me from when I was trapped in the School.

"_The bird children are our latest success!" A whitecoat said from the hallway. If it weren't for my brilliant hearing, I wouldn't be hearing this conversation. Especially because I was behind a cement wall and inside a dog crate. _

"_The bird children are not the success you idiot!" Another whitecoat yelled. "They headquarters sent us a new sample of DNA last week. We put it inside a child. The kid can transform into any other human being they want. One minute they can look like a sixty year old man, the next they can look like a six year old boy! It's amazing. I saw him switch appearances with my own eyes." _

_I looked down at my eight year old hands and sighed. They shouldn't be doing this to us. I looked over at Fang, who just came back from a test. His face was hard, ready to pounce on the next whitecoat that came through the door. _

"_Momayella" I said in our made-up language. In the School, the flock and I created a code language so the whitecoats didn't understand us. 'Momayella' meant 'listen to their conversation'. Fang nodded. I saw his dark eyes go wide. Did we have the shapeshifting DNA in us too?_

I shook the memory off and looked down into the canyon. That couldn't possibly have been a shapeshifter. Could he have been?

I told Hawk about my memory and how I believed that the attacker could have been a shapeshifter, "Wow…" She muttered. "That would explain why he turned into his original form. When I slammed him into the wall he rendered unconscious." Her hands clenched into fists. "He must have woken up a second later because he turned back into the attackers form… That means when I dropped him he was conscious and able to fly!" Hawk yelled. She punched the ground and laid back. "I'm so _dumb_. I let him get away!"

I didn't dare say anything. I just sat there watching Hawk mentally hit herself on the head.

"Let's get back to the others. I want to get some sleep." She said after a while. I nodded and stood up. Hawk did the same and looked me in the eyes, "Thanks Max." I smirked and gave her a hug.

"No problemo, kemosabe." I took a deep breath and jumped off the canyon ledge. I snapped out my wings and started soaring through the air. Hawk did the same. I thought back to when Josh took me to the cave. Not once did I doubt the owl kids and I am happy I didn't.

**Dylan POV**

That owl girl can pack some pretty good punches. I flew away from the canyon as fast as I could. The girl must have thought I was dead because she didn't look down at me when she dropped me. I stood by a lake, looking down at my reflection… Well not _my_ reflection, but some random person I saw off of the streets. I morphed back into my original form. The original form that the owl girl saw when I was unconscious.

Yes, I was the one who attacked Max and the owl kids. I am a shapeshifter. Itex hired me to capture the six remaining flocks of bird children left on the earth. Itex thought the flocks would join together and try to destroy the company, so they created me to join the flocks and bring them back too Itex. They were going to be destroyed. Right now I am pretending to be Max's soul mate to make Fang jealous. If Fang was jealous, he would be unguarded; an easy target for me. I called Fang and told him to leave during the wedding so Max and the flock would be vulnerable. With the flock in the vulnerable state, I could simply inject them with a serum and drag them back to the School. Unfortunately, I came home from the wedding to Max wanting to leave. I couldn't inject just some of the flock; I had to do it when they were all there. I tried to convince Max to stay, but she just wouldn't have it.

Last night I morphed into an Eraser and tried to inject Iggy, but he woke up because I slipped on the rug and punched him in the back of the head. The rest of the house woke up and threw a fucking bomb down my pants. I got the bomb out just in time to save myself, but I got blown into the ground that was hundreds of feet down. I ran into the house in my original form and pretended that I was caught in the crossfire of the bomb. When Iggy said he wanted to talk to the flock, I went out for a 'fly'. If you haven't caught on, I was attacking Max. During that fly I saw a boy about my age on the street. I transformed into him and added wings into it. Attacking Max was fun, until that owl chick got a piece of me.

I looked at my reflection in the water. I had cuts and bruises all over my body. My wings were ripped at the tips. And my left eye was almost swollen shut. My plan was to capture Max and Fang, but they were with the owl children. When Max ducked away from my attack, I grabbed onto another owl kid and injected her with a knockout serum with a needle that is embedded into my finger. According to my watch, the serum would ware off and she would wake up in about an hour. The way that owl girl was hitting me I could tell that they thought she was dead.

I need to get back to the flock and tell them I was attacked by and Eraser. That would explain why I looked this way. Max was probably on her way home when I attacked her. A person attacking her would make her go on high alert and want to get to the flock faster. I would have to wait for her there. When they were all asleep, I would inject them all and take them to Itex and then move onto my next victims.

The Owl Flock.


	10. Getting Too Soft

**Max POV**

Hawk and I took our sweet time getting back to the site where everyone was. Flying seemed to relieve both Hawk and _I_. The tension seemed to be swept away by the wind. It was nice to see Hawk so calm after her explosion before. We saw the campfire that they all started about a mile away. When we landed, Janie's body was still under the sheet. Josh stood up and hugged Hawk. Xavier did the same. I walked over to Fang who had an emotionless expression on his face. The one thing I loved about Fang was that he was able to hide any emotion he had… most of the time. I leaned against a tree and slid down into a sitting position next to him. We watched the owl children disperse from their hug and lay down around the fire. Slowly, they all fell asleep.

I looked up at Fang and leaned my head on his shoulder, "At this rate, I don't think I will ever get home." I closed my eyes and relaxed for the first time in hours.

He relaxed too, "That's not bad." He smiled and grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers.

There was silence for a while. All you could hear was the crackling of the fire. It was the most calming thing ever. Even in the circumstances, I always enjoyed sitting next to a fire. Especially sitting next to a fire with Fang.

"That should be me under that sheet." I whispered. Fang tensed up and craned his neck, looking down at me. "Whoever that was wanted _me_. He was going straight for me. Instead I ducked and he got Janie instead. I feel so… _horrible_." I sighed and closed my eyes again.

"Don't say that. I want it to be that jerk under the sheet, not one of us." He replied quickly.

_Where…you…? _I heard the faintest whisper of Angel in my head. She was trying to talk to me! I was close enough. I shot up from my comfortable position and flew up into the sky.

_Angel!_ I screamed mentally. I looked down and saw Fang looking up at me, confused.

_Max…? _Her voice was getting louder. I flashed my teeth in a wide smile and flew further up. _Max! We need you to get home immediately! An Eraser attacked us, but we killed it! The only thing is that Dylan is missing._

_Dylan is missing? _I thought back to her. _That's weird. _I remembered how Hawk said that the attacker shifted into someone with blonde hair and blue eyes. Dylan had blonde hair and blue eyes. No, it's not possible. _Angel! You need to tell everyone that I found Fang. We are on our way back. We are staying with owl kids. They have wings too. Get them all together. Be home soon. _

_So it's like I'm taking charge? _She asked excitedly.

I didn't want to let her down. _Kinda, only until I get back. Don't tell Iggy that you're kinda in charge. He will be mad. _

_Okay! _She left my head. I flew back a foot when I saw Fang flying next to me. I hadn't noticed him flying up towards me.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked me.

"Angel…" I muttered. "She was talking to me… I told her what's happening." Fang's eyes flashed with realization.

"Oh…" He said. The setting was beautiful. The sun was just breaking over the horizon. The sky was a pinkish-blue. It was very romantic, but I wasn't in a romantic mood. I saw Fang looked eager, but I shook my head.

"I'm sorry… not right now…" I bit my lip and looked into his eyes. I hugged him and started flying down. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to him. I was about to fly away again when he started talking. I wanted to smile at how awkward he looked, but I kept it hidden. Fang's face was completely serious.

"I told you why I left, but I never said I was sorry… The problem is I don't think that one dumb word will make a difference." He looked away and let go of my arm. I looked down and shook my head. Fang sighed, "But, I'm sorry. I feel like a big jerk." I grabbed my elbow behind my back.

"No problem…" I muttered. I flew down to the ground, leaving Fang floating in the air behind me. My feet lightly hit the corn stacks. I started walking to the edge of the corn fields. Woods were lining the sides. I flew up into a tree and sat down on a branch. I leaned on the tree and drifted off to sleep. I didn't want to handle all of this right now. I hated how I wanted to cry. As much as the tears started to rise, I viciously held them back.

All of the events today made me realize something: I was getting too soft. I need to be the Max who held her emotions back in front of everyone. This is my last night of emotions, because tomorrow I am turning back to the old Max; the Max who didn't give a damn.

**Sorry it's so short! I just feel like it needs to be left off from there for now. R&R…. please? :)**


	11. Dead or Alive

**Fang POV**

Great. This situation is just wonderful.

Max is finally getting hit with all of the emotions _now._ She couldn't start hating me for leaving when she got home? Nope. Typical Max. She had to be angry with me to my face. Max always tries to hide her emotions, but she always fails. I remember when the flock was in Antarctica. I was flirting with Dr. Brigid and Max threw a fit! My life will never be simple…

I caught a glimpse of Max's face when she flew off into the woods. She didn't have tears on her cheeks, but the pit of my stomach told me that tears might be there later. No. Max Never cries. I've only seen her cry five times. The first being when Jeb left us. The second being when Iggy and Gazzy used her Mickey Mouse alarm clock to make a bomb. (She cried because Jeb gave that to her when she was little) The third when I was being beat up by Ari. The fourth when Ari died… And the fifth was yesterday morning because she found me... Max barely cried so much that I can remember each time why she broke down in tears. Max has only seen me cry once. When she found me. Wow. I show my emotions well!

I took a deep breath and sat down by the fire. Max wasn't going to be back until the morning. I didn't want her out there in the woods, alone. People were attacking us, and I didn't think she could take them on her own. Hell, Max can kick my ass if she wanted to. But if she is outnumbered by three and doesn't have help? She's going to be Sunday night's Mystery Meat.

I leaned back on a small tree. What were trees doing in a corn field anyway? No idea.

_Can I talk to you? _Hawk asked me. _ Please. Everyone is asleep and I need to talk to someone. _I looked over at Hawk who was pretending to be asleep. One of her eyes opened, and she slowly stood up and walked toward me. _Xavier and Josh are very light sleepers when they don't sleep in beds, so we have to talk like this. _

I nodded and took a deep breath. Hawk looked a mess. She had lines from tears streaking the dirt down her cheeks. She had blood on her yellow windbreaker. It was funny how all of us wore windbreakers to cover our wings. They were so puffy that no one would expect us to have two secret limbs.

_What do you need? _I asked. My eyes were closed; I was pretending to be asleep. Whatever Hawk wanted to talk about was private.

Hawk inched closer to the fire and sat down; _I think you know the person who attacked us today. All his thoughts were saying was 'I got Fang out of the house, now I kill Maximum ride'._

I was surprised that she thought I knew who attacked us. _I don't know anyone who looks like that. Sorry. A lot of people want to hurt Max and I. That person could be working for someone, who works for someone else, who works for another guy. It's all one big cycle. _I heard snoring from Xavier. Poor little guy went through so much crap today. I barely opened my eye and looked at Janie's body. A small breeze blew the sheet off of her face. I must have been seeing things because she had more… color to her face. She looked more alive. It was probably just my eyes.

_No, you don't get it. _Hawk said, _The person was a shapeshifter. _

I froze. I remember from the School that they were talking about shapeshifting DNA… _How do you know they could shapeshift? _I asked sternly.

_I will show you my fighting scene. _Hawk said. At first I was confused, but then my eyes went blank and were literally _seeing _someone's memory. It was like watching a movie from my brain. I saw Hawk ram the guy into a canyon wall, but then out of nowhere he shifted into someone else when knocked unconscious. The blonde hair and light skin was only visible for a second, because Hawk dropped him when he turned back into the person who attacked us. The blonde haired person looked a lot like… No. It's not possible. Dylan is miles and miles away in California. Dylan couldn't have possibly attacked us tonight. I watched the memory over again and looked at the face that was before me. Dylan stared straight ahead.

The memory stopped and I gasped. My eyes shot open and I looked at Hawk who was still pretending to be asleep. _You do know him. _She opened her eyes and looked at me.

I nodded. _I have to think about this before I act. I'm going to bed. Night._

_Goodnight. _

The memory was burned into my scull. I was too tired to think. I didn't even think of the danger Max could be in right now.

Dylan was the person who wanted me out. Dylan wanted to kill us. All of this time it was fucking _Dylan._ He was so close to the flock. Max and I hated him, but everyone else in the flock didn't mind him; as far as I could tell anyway. Dylan. Dylan was the person doing this to us.

**Max POV**

I took a deep breath and leapt down from the tree. I was acting like a baby. I always ran away when there was an awkward moment between me and Fang. Growing up around physical pain doesn't prepare you from emotional pain like this. I took a deep breath and started to slowly walk back to the camp that the owl flock was staying at. The moon was my only light source. My raptor vision saw small embers from the campfire floating in the air a couple yards away. I walked over there and sat as far away from Fang as possible.

Why did I freak out on him? Janie's death was making me sad, but it wouldn't make me spend less time with Fang. Oh God. I'm feeling bitter because he left. But it wasn't his fault! He did it for the flock's safety. I should be thankful to him for that. But why do I feel… unimportant? If he thought I could have helped, he would have told me about the message that told him to leave. I'm ridiculous. I pulled my knees close to my chest and let my wings unfurl. I hate emotions. They never do anyone justice.

I stared at the fire for what felt like a millennium. I ignored the sounds of yawns that were coming from the owl flock; they must be beat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone sit up. I turned my head and my jaw dropped.

Janie was staring at me with her giant brown eyes. "My head hurts." She mumbled. I didn't bother to keep the shocked look off of my face. "What?" She asked, worried. "Is everyone okay? Did someone get hurt?" She looked around and mentally counted the people in her flock.

"We—we thought you were… dead." I said. I looked at the ground. What the hell? She was dead, like, 20 seconds ago! How did she…?

"Uhh… No. I was unconscious…" She arched her eyebrow. I looked down at Xavier whose eyes were opening. Even though Janie and I were whispering, to Xavier it sounded like we were clanging pots and pans together.

"Can you keep it—" He started. His big blue eyes locked on Janie. Tears started to form, but he fought them down. "You're alive!" He yelled. Xavier quickly stood up and hugged her. Janie smiled and wrapped her arms around Xavier.

"I was only unconscious." She said, smoothing out his hair. "When the guy poked me in the head, he injected me some sanative or something. My heart slowed down; I felt it. I stopped breathing, but it was almost as if I didn't need oxygen."

I looked over at Josh's sleeping body. His face was stiff and serious before, but the sound of Janie's voice seemed to calm him. His eyes fluttered open and he stood up. His expression was the same as mine: Wide eyes and open mouthed. He looked down at Xavier who was hugging her. He ran over and did the same. When Josh hugged Janie, Xavier was caught in the middle of a hug sandwich. He snuck his way out and walked over to me. I watched Janie and Josh hug with a smile on my face. Even though Josh was about four years older than Janie, he pulled her into a soft and sweet kiss. I put my hands over Xavier's eyes and he laughed.

I looked down at Xavier who was smiling. He was such a sweet kid. Both of us turned around to go wake up Hawk and Fang, but both of them were standing behind us. Hawk's eyes widened when she saw Janie. She quickly looked back at the sheet. There was no body underneath the sheet. Janie was alive. She smiled and ran over to Janie, interrupting her and Josh's kiss. Hawk and Janie hugged each other. Hawk burst into tears. Janie did the same.

I looked up at Fang who was already walking back to his previous spot. _Congratulations_. I said, telepathically to Hawk. She smiled at me and went back to hugging Janie. I walked over to Fang and sat next to him.

"Sorry." Fang said suddenly. I was forgetting about the awkward moment we had earlier today. Until now.

I sighed, "You're not the one who has to be sorry. I was the jerk who left you flying there for no reason." Wow. I really am an idiot. Fang might as well be wearing an 'I'm with stupid sign'. One that pointed straight to me.

Fang grabbed my hand. I tried to search for a sarcastic comment about him holding my hand all of the time, but I couldn't say anything.

"Let's just forget about it." He said. I agreed with him and leaned back on the small tree. The moment was all going good. Janie was _alive_. Hawk and the owl flock got their friend back. And Fang and I were resolved.

Xavier asked the question that people were dying to know, "So… what happened? Why did you 'die'" he emphasized the quotes with his fingers, "and now you are awake again. You had no pulse or breathing when we checked you."

Janie looked down, "Because I never died. When I was injected with the crap by the needle in his hand, it made me faint. I heard and saw everything while I was unconscious. My heart slowed and I just stopped breathing… I think I was using my air sacks instead of my lungs." I tilted my head. I forgot about the air sacks. Because we fly very high, we have air sacks to get extra air.

So that was it. Dylan can knock a person out with a frikin needle in his finger. Wonderful. Another thing I have to worry about when fighting him. I tensed and Fang, who was next to me, looked at me.

"What?" He asked.

I bit my lip, "Dylan is at home with the flock. Hawk, did his thoughts say anything about what he was planning to do when he captured me?"

Hawk put her finger on her chin and slowly nodded, "Yeah… he wanted to take you to Itex."

I froze. Dylan could have already taken the flock there. Fang knew this too. Both of us shot up from our sitting position and snapped out our wings.

"We have to go. Now." Fang said. "Our flock is in possible danger." The owl kids nodded and stood up. Everyone flew off into the sky. I needed to get to my flock. They didn't know what was coming for them.


	12. Into the Trap

Thanks to all of my faithful readers! :D You guys give me a lot of support. Keep on Flying. 

**Iggy POV**

I was sitting in the living room alone. Nudge and Angel were in their room talking. Gazzy was out back (I have a bad feeling he was making something explosive). And Dylan was… not here. I didn't care if Dylan was here or not; he gave me the chills sometimes.

Max and Fang were _still _gone. It had been three days since Fang ran away and Max went to look for him. The pit of my stomach ached for the flock to be together again. I remember when the flock split up because Fang didn't want to be with Ari when Max brought him into the flock. Those were the worst weeks of my life. When part of the flock was gone, part of me went with it.

The small pitter patter of Angel's feet came into the living room. Her footsteps were so light that I thought it was Total for a second. Total was living in Arizona with Akila, his wife, with Dr. Martinez and Ella.

"Iggy." Angel kept her voice low, but her tone showed that she was excited. I craned my neck and looked in the direction her voice was coming from. _Max found Fang! _She shouted telepathically. _I tried to talk to her through my head. The first couple of times I couldn't get anything, but I finally reached her! She said that she found Fang and that they were on their way. She didn't tell me this, but her thoughts said that Fang couldn't stay… She will explain it all when she gets here. _

My eyes went wide. Max found Fang. They were coming. I jumped up from the couch and did a small victory dance. Angel laughed and hugged me. I felt whole again. They were still far, but I knew they were coming back. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face when a giant explosion came from the back of the house. Gazzy came running in; the smell of burning clothes was in the air. He frantically ran over to the sink and put out the fire that was probably engulfing his legs.

"What exploded?" I asked.

"A fuse caught on fire when I inserted it into the bomb." Gazzy sounded casual. This stuff happened all of the time for us. "I'm going to go put it out." He walked to the other side of the kitchen and grabbed something big and metal. I was guessing it was the fire extinguisher. I nodded and Gazzy walked out of the house.

"Oh brother…" I heard Angel mutter. I laughed as Nudge walked into the room.

"What did Gazzy blow up now?" Nudge sat down on the couch, but sighed as she saw an unopened soda can sitting on the counter. She stuck out her hand and the can went flying into it. Nudge's power to attract metal was awesome. She opened it and chugged half of the soda in a second.

"A fuse set on fire, setting off the bomb he was creating." I said. Angel and I sat down on the couch opposite from her. Angel turned on the TV and relaxed. About a half an hour later, Gazzy walked in and sat down by Nudge. If Max and Fang were here… we would be complete. They were on their way though. A small smile crept on my face as Angel leaned her head onto my arm.

I took a deep breath and looked at the flock, "Max found Fang. They are on—" I was interrupted by the front door flying opened.

"Hi, Dylan." Angel said coldly. I heard Gazzy go "Woah." From a few feet away from me. "What happened to _you_?" Angel squeezed my hand.

_He is beaten up… Badly._ My eyes widened.

"What happened?" I asked to him.

He shrugged off my question, "None of your business." I narrowed my eyes.

The hell it was my business.

I got up from the couch and walked into Dylan's room, "What the hell is going on with you?" I glared at his direction, hoping I was looking straight at him.

"Oh nothing." I could hear humor in Dylan's voice. Before I knew what was happening, I was being tackled to the ground. His finger poked me on the forehead. At first I was confused, but then I slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

**Fang POV**

We were flying so fast that my eyes were watering. The owl kids had no problem keeping up with Max and me because of their wings size, so we could make it back to the flock in less than an hour. I looked over at Max; she had a hard expression on her face. She needed to see the flock _now._ Not knowing what could be happening to them is killing Max. It was killing me too.

While we were flying we made a plan. The owl flock will drop Max and I off at the house in Colorado and then leave. We didn't want to risk them getting hurt. I would hide at the bottom of the porch as Max searched the house. Max was going to come out and tell me if they were okay or not. The flock was going to fly back with me to live in the cave with the owl flock. It was going to be difficult, but every part of my body ached to see the flock safe.

The house was about a mile away. We made it there in no time. All of us landed a couple hundred yards away from the house. Max turned to Hawk and hugged her.

"Thank you for everything. I will see you soon." Max had a forced smile on her face.

Hawk nodded. "Go. They need you. See you back at the cave." With a small smirk, Hawk, Xavier, Josh, and Janie took a running start and flew off into the sky.

Max and I looked at each other. We didn't say anything. I nodded and Max flew up to the porch of the house. I hid behind a beam that was holding up the porch and waited. Taking deep breaths, I leaned against the beam and waited for Max to come outside.

**Max POV**

Fang looked at me and nodded. I wanted to hug him, but I had to get to my flock _now_. Dylan could have gotten home before us. I jumped up into the air and started flapping my wings furiously. In seconds, I landed on the porch as quietly as I could. Slowly, I opened my door. Iggy craned his head and looked in the direction of me. I sighed in relief as his forehead creased.

"Max? Is that you?" He asked. I nodded and ran over to hug him. I got home first. Before Dylan. Tears were streaking down my cheeks.

"You're safe." I whispered. I heard a harsh laugh in my ear… It wasn't Iggy's laugh.

"I may be safe, but you're not." My eyes widened as Iggy's appearance changed into Dylan. Before I could do anything, Dylan's finger shot up to my forehead and injected me with that crap. I was unconscious, but I could still hear what Dylan was saying to me.

"Max, Max, Max." He said disappointedly. "I thought you were smarter than this. You simply walked right into my trap." His finger caressed my neck. "I guess I will throw you with your flock." Dylan picked me up and dragged me into the kitchen. He threw me onto the ground. I couldn't move, but I could see four other people that were on the floor next to me. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel lay on the ground. Rage rose inside of me, but I couldn't do anything about it.

Three other people walked into the kitchen and stood next to Dylan. They were whitecoats. One of them picked up Iggy and Nudge. Another picked up Angel and Gazzy. The other picked up me. Dylan looked at me; my eyes were still open for some reason. "You are going to watch me kill your little boyfriend." I couldn't reply. I tried using all of my might, but I couldn't move my body at all. I couldn't talk. I wanted to spit in his face, but I was paralyzed at the moment.

The two men carrying Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel walked out of the back door and lowered them down to a van that was waiting below. Fang has to see the van. Can't he? Dylan walked out of the front door and shapeshifted into me. Greif filled my body. He was going to go to Fang in my form. The person carrying me handed me to Dylan and Dylan flew down to the ground. Dylan waited for the person to climb down the ladder and he handed me back to the whitecoat.

Dylan gave me a sly smile and then started walking in the direction Fang was in. I wanted to cry out. I wanted to scream. Dylan would catch Fang off guard. Mine and Fang's plan was for me to come back out and tell him the flock's condition. Now Dylan was the one who was going to meet Fang.

"Stop…" It took all of my might to get the one word out. Dylan couldn't hear me. He was a couple feet away from Fang, who hadn't notice the whitecoat carrying me a couple hundred feet away. Fang gave a slight smile to Dylan and the pit of my stomach fell. He believed that Dylan was actually me.

Dylan was going to kill Fang and I was sitting here, unable to do anything.


	13. Look What the Cat Dragged In

Thanks fanficlover. The story… kinds goes like that. Haha. Uhmm…. Here's the story.

**Fang POV**

I was waiting at the bottom of the porch for Max. There was no screaming coming from the house, so I figured everything was going good.

Ha ha. How wrong.

I saw Max walking toward me. She must have flown down from the back of the porch because I didn't see her until she was walking to me. I smiled at her. She put her hands in her pocket and walked towards me.

"Hey. Everyone is doing well. They want to see you." Max twirled a strand of hair and looked at me… literally like a dumb blonde. "_Please_." She said making a pout face. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Max _never_ talked and acted like that. Ever. Something was wrong. Max stepped toward me and I stepped back.

"You know I can't see them, Max." I said slowly.

"Too bad." She said with an evil grin on her face. She leapt at me and tackled me to the ground. I tried to punch her in the face, but missed. She just laughed. "Nice try, big boy." She punched me in the face and wrapped her fingers around my neck. Slowly, Max's face started to twist. She was turning into Dylan before my eyes. "You're dead." He punched my nose. I felt warm blood dripping down onto my shirt. Great. My face was going to look like a hot mess after this.

Dylan stood up and picked me up by my neck. He turned my head in the direction of the woods. A whitecoat was standing there, holding Max in his hands bridal-style.

"Let her go." I spit blood in Dylan's face. His face twisted in anger and he threw me to the ground. He kicked me in the stomach, and then the head. Pissed was an understatement for what I was feeling towards Dylan. I was even madder at myself when I groaned in pain. His foot came down to my forehead. He put more and more pressure on his foot.

He was trying to crush my skull.

Both of my hands shot up. I wrapped my bloody fingers around his ankle. "Get…" I took a deep breath. Slowly, I used all of my might and slid his foot off of my head. "the fuck out." I stood up and pushed him to the ground. I kicked him in the face. I small smile crept on my lips as blood started to gush out of his nose. He grabbed my ankle with one hand and punched my shin with the other. I didn't even flinch. He looked up into my eyes and smiled. His fist flew up.

Let me tell you this: being punched in the balls will even get a mutant bird-kid to fall to the ground. I groaned as Dylan stood up and kicked me in the gut. His finger flew down and poked me in the forehead. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. I was unconscious, but I felt, heard, and saw everything. Dylan picked me up and tied me to one of the beams holding up the porch. He pinned together my wings. It's more painful than it looks.

"Guess what, freak." Dylan looked me straight in the eye. "I'm after your little owl flock next. You're just getting everyone killed." My heart fell like it flew into my throat. I couldn't do anything. Nothing.

The worst part was the fact that my eyes were open the whole time I was unconscious. So lucky me, I got to watch Dylan pick up Max and throw her into the back of a van.

I don't know how long I was tied to the pole. If felt like a millennium. My flock was being taken away by this stupid shit. When we got to the house, it was dawn. A couple of minutes ago the sun just set. I was tied to this pole for _twelve hours._

Itex can do a lot of damage to bird-kids in twelve hours. A lot of damage.

**Max POV**

I was the last one to wake up from my unconsciousness. Nudge was hovering over me the whole time I was out. Her eyes widened when she woke up.

"Max!" She yelled. The next moment I was in giant hug. "You weren't even moving! We thought you were dead. I would have cried so much if you were dead! My heart would stop. Everyone would cry. We would have to go on this whole mission to find Fang and tell him what happened to you. It would be—" Nudge was cut off.

"Shut up." Iggy said through clenched teeth.

Nudge rolled her eyes. Gazzy and Angel were being so quiet that I almost forgot that they were here. "M—Max." Angel said quietly.

I sat up and looked at her, "What's wrong, Angel?" I slid over to her; my legs were still numb.

Angel was beat up. I think she was the only one who saw Dylan's attack coming so she was able to put up a fight before he knocked her out. "I don't want to go back to Itex. They are going to kill us there. I read Dylan's mind before he attacked me. There are six flocks of bird kids, including us. Itex thought that we were going to go search for the other flocks and try to shut down Itex… for good." Angel's voice cracked. "Dylan had been moving from flock to flock. Capturing every single one, then he handed them over to Itex. I never got an unusual reading from him before… so I never suspected a thing."

My eyes were wide. They weren't just trying to experiment with us anymore. They wanted to kill us.

I wrapped my arms around Angel, "Don't worry, hunny. It's going to be okay."

Gazzy shot up from the corner, "No, Max! No! It's not going to be okay! We are going to die for real this time! I will never be able to grow up and do all of the stuff you do! I won't ever be one of the older kids! No! I am going to die at nine years old!" Tears were forming in his eyes. Gazzy never did this. I let go of Angel and walked over and hugged him. He tried to shrug out of it, but I grabbed him into the hug again.

"No, Gazzy. I won't let them kill you. I would die to get you out of Itex." I kissed the top of his head. "I promise." Gazzy nodded and dug his head into my shoulder. He started crying more.

Iggy sat by the door of the van. His jaw was clenched, so were his fists. He didn't say anything. We sat there in silence for a few moments, but then Iggy's face lightened up. Almost as if a light bulb went off over his head, he reached into his pocket. Iggy pulled out a small, round object.

This is one of the moments I praise the lord that Iggy loves bombs.

"I just saved our skins." Iggy said, holding up the grenade.

Everyone looked at Iggy. He and the Gasman high-fived. The door to the van suddenly flew open and Iggy shoved the grenade into his pocket. Dylan stood there, a smug look on his face.

"Look what the cat dragged in." I said.

He glared at me, "Look what mutant freak flew into the back of my van."

I smiled and flipped him the bird. Dylan rolled his eyes as five whitecoats walked into the van and handcuffed us all. We were escorted out of the van to the Itex building. I got ready to snap open my wings and tell everyone to go up and away, but when I tried to move my wings, pain shot up them. My wings were clipped together. Again.

"Well, I'm going to get the owl-kids." Dylan said to the whitecoats. "Wish me luck. Psh. Like I need it." You don't know how much I wanted to slap him.

It was the all the same; we walked in, saw the poor experiments, and were thrown into a giant room. The room had no windows. The door was on the ceiling, so we would have to fly to get to the door. That stinks, because out wings were clipped together.

"What are we going to do?" Nudge asked.

I smiled, "I have a plan." Of course I didn't. I was just trying to sound more leader-like.

**Hawk POV**

My whole flock just landed in the cave. I was too far away to read Fang's thoughts and see if they were safe or not. All I could do is wish. But a wish is just the substitution of reality… It was just about midnight. We took our sweet time getting home. It wasn't smart coming back to the cave. Itex could have tracked Fang and Max back to here, but I had to wait for them to come back. Xavier plopped down onto his bed. So did Janie and Josh. A chill went down my spine when Josh almost went into _her _bed with her. Nope. No. Way. In. Hell.

I sat at the mouth of the cave while my flock slept. My wings were fully extended. I lie down and fell asleep right at the opening of the cave. When I woke up it felt like I only slept for a couple of minutes, but my watch told me it was actually three hours. I stared out at the moon and saw something miles away. It was a person.

The person got closer and closer. I took a sigh of relief as Fang landed inside the cave. "Hawk!" I stood up as he yelled my name.

"Hey… where's your flock?" I asked him. They weren't even in the sky.

Fang's face went tense, "They didn't want to come with me. So I left them there."

"Oh." Fang would never leave his flock while someone who wanted to hurt them was with them. Never. I tried to read his mind, but I got nothing. Fang noticed that I didn't believe him so he took a step forward. I was caught off guard. Dude, you will never believe what he did. It was weird.

Fang pushed me against the cave wall and _kissed _me. I pushed him away, but he pulled me back to him. I kicked him in the shin. He staggered back and then came at me. I realized what he was doing too late. He poked my head and I crumpled to the ground.

I caught a glimpse of Fang shifting into the blonde haired-blue eyed guy again. The guy shifted into me and then walked into the section of the cave that my flock was sitting in. That wasn't Fang. I fell into a trap that easily.

Even worse: he was going to take us to Itex.


	14. Leave Don't Ever Stop

**Xavier POV**

I heard someone call Hawk's name and I shot up from my bed. I wanted to meet the other flock so much. If Fang liked them, then they must be cool. I walked over to the section of the cave where I heard someone call Hawk's name. I peered my head over the side of the cave wall. Fang and Hawk were standing there. Hawk looked like she didn't trust Fang. Why wouldn't she trust Fang? Fang hadn't been with us all that long, but I still looked at him like an older brother. He grows on you.

I noticed why Hawk was being cautious. Fang's flock wasn't with him. I looked into the sky, but no one was flying toward the cave. I shrugged it off and looked back at Hawk and Fang. He stepped forward and pushed her up against the wall. And he _kissed_ her. My fists clenched. Hawk kicked him in the shin and he flew forward. He was _fast._ My eyes widened when Fang poked Hawk's head. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground. I couldn't keep my gasp in my throat. Fang started to… form into someone else. It was hard to explain. One moment he was Fang, the next he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Was that the guy that was after Fang and Max's flock?

Hawk looked dead; it was scary to see my powerful, older sister lying on the ground, powerless. The blonde haired guy started to turn into Hawk. My eyes narrowed. The fake Hawk dragged the real Hawk behind the changing curtain. The fake Hawk started walking towards the wall where I was hiding. I stepped out and pretended I just woke up.

"Hawk? What was all of that noise?" I asked, adding a yawn at the end.

The fake Hawk gave me a small smile, "Oh, just some dumb bird flew in here. I picked it up and sent it out of the cave." Huh. Nice try, buddy. Hawk says that birds should be able to sleep in the cave because it was their habitat first.

I cocked my head to the side, "But you let birds sleep in here usually. You say they have rights to sleep wherever they want." The fake Hawk's face hardened.

"Xavier, why don't you just come here." They said.

I narrowed my eyes, "No."

The fake Hawk looked at me then grinned evilly, "You know, you should really listen to the flock leader. I could kick you out of the flock in a second." The person crossed their arms and stared at me.

"You would really kick out your own little brother?" The fake Hawk's eyes widened, then their face went back to normal. "Did you suddenly forget I'm your brother?" The fake Hawk closed their eyes in frustration. This was my chance. I lunged at the person and tackled them to the ground. I threw a punch at their nose, but it didn't even make it bleed. The fake Max changed into the blonde haired guy and threw me off of him.

"Josh!" I yelled. "Janie! I need help!" The sound of footsteps echoed down the cave. Josh appeared and launched at the blonde haired guy. The guy rolled his eyes and stuck out his finger as Josh flew at him.

"NO!" I shouted. "He's going to do to you what he did to Janie!" Josh jumped out of the guy's fingers way at the last second. He stopped in front of the guy and punched him in the nose. How come Josh can make his nose bleed and not me? The guy kicked up and hit Josh's knee. Josh flinched and grabbed the guy's arm. He twisted it and turned the guy around, holding it behind his back.

"Who are you?" Josh spit out at him.

"Your worst nightmare." The guy said.

Josh rolled his eyes and pulled harder on the guys arm. He didn't even flinch, "That was a very dumb reply. Tell me your real name. Now." The guy gave an evil laugh. The guys head flew back, knocking into Josh. Josh let go of the guys arm and staggered back. Blood started to drip out of his nose. Josh ran his finger over his nose, checking for a break. Janie and I were standing behind the blonde person.

"Go. I'm going to help Josh. Get as far away as possible. Go back to the house we dropped Fang off at. Don't stop to rest. Keep flying. Check and see if Fang's flock is safe or not." She hugged me and kissed my forehead. "I love you, kiddo." I nodded and hugged her back. I snapped open my giant white wings and started running out of the cave. I jumped and let the wind flow through my feathers. Gliding out of the cave, I looked back. Janie jumped onto the guy's back. He threw her off and pushed her to the ground. He kicked her head. I knew he was going to inject her with the stuff so I turned my head. I tried to be brave, I really did, but I couldn't watch my family being beat up by _one guy_. I started crying. I wanted to turn back and help my flock, but I had to keep going.

I had to keep going. I being safe could help Josh, Janie, and Hawk.

**Dylan POV**

I always hated owls. This little boy, my files told me his name was Xavier, was making my hatred for owls even worse. He knew I wasn't the Hawk girl the second I started talking to him. I should have just attacked him and got it over with, but I didn't want him screaming. Well, the stupid boy ended up screaming anyway. Two other from the owl flock came running in. There was a boy and girl. The boy was huge. He wasn't fat, but he had a lot of muscle on him. One punch in the nose from him made blood come gushing out. The little boy, Xavier, called him Josh. Josh grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, asking for my name. Psh. Like it would tell him that.

"Your worst nightmare." I said, confidence dripping off of my voice.

"That was a very dumb reply. Tell me your real name. Now." He hissed back at me. I flung my head back and hit him in the nose. He let me go and I pushed him to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Xavier flying out of the cave. The girl came flying at me and jumped on my back. She punched my windpipe, knocking the air out of me. I threw her off of my back and shoved her to the ground. I kicked the guy in the head before he could get up. I pointed my finger and poked him in the head. There was a vein in the head that I had to hit for the serum to render the person unconscious.

Josh's eyes stayed open, but they glazed over. The girl was lying on the ground. She tried to reach out and grab the boy's hand, but I stepped on her wrist. I felt the bone snap under my foot. She groaned in pain. I was impressed that she didn't start crying. She pulled her wrist closer to her and looked into my eyes.

"Where is Hawk?" She asked me.

I arched my eyebrows, "Behind that curtain. She is currently unconscious. You people are very easy to trick." The girl flipped me off and I smiled. I kicked her in the chest, cracking her rib. She let out a little yelp and I laughed. "You're so weak. It's quite pathetic." I grabbed a chunk of her brown hair and pulled on it. She shrieked, fighting back tears. I decided to end it and poked her head. Her wheezing stopped and she went completely still.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed a number. They picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?" One of the whitecoats asked.

"Is the van in the meadow? They are out cold. Except for one who got away." I replied.

"We are at the bottom of the cliff. Come down now."

I shut my phone and put it back in my pocket. I walked over to the curtain and dragged out the Hawk girl. I threw her over my shoulder and then threw the other girl over my other shoulder. I jumped out of the cave and flew down to the meadow below. I handed the two girls to the whitecoats and flew back up to the cave. I grabbed the guy and flew back down with him. When I threw him into the back of the van, the two other girls were already in there, their wings pinned. I smiled and closed the door.

"Take them away." I said. The van's engine started up and started to drive away. "Suckers." I said to myself, smiling.


	15. The Explosion That Brought Us Together

I just realized I update very soon. I don't know if it's because I have no life or I just do this whenever I am bored… which is a lot. Yep… I'm really awkward when I'm writing about me. So I am going to shut up and continue the story.

**Hawk POV**

When I regained consciousness, I saw that we were in the back of a van. Xavier wasn't there, and Josh and Janie were still out cold. Had Xavier gotten away?... Or was it bad news? My fingers trailed to my temples and started to massage them.

_Only one way to find out…_ I thought. I started to read the thoughts of the whitecoats driving the van. Wow… they were _really _dumb.

_Dumb owl kids! They fell-ded into our trap! What dip-twits. _I flinched at the whitecoat's horrible use of grammar. I hadn't had one day of schooling in my life and I still talk better than him. _We will get to the Itex and dissect them limb by limb! They think they can join the flocks together and shut us down? We'll show them!_

I rolled my eyes. No information on Xavier at all. I decided to read the other whitecoat's mind. He had more brain cells than the other whitecoat… obviously. He was still dumb for becoming a whitecoat, but he wasn't brain dead like the other guy.

_How did I get partnered with this shlub? At least we have that Dylan. If it weren't for Dylan, we wouldn't have ever caught the mutants. Well, the one owl kid escaped, but it was four against one. I don't blame him one bit for letting one get loose. _

I smiled and relaxed. Xavier got away. Relief flooded through my blood. I pushed away a box that was jamming me in the hip and leaned back on the door. After a few minutes, the van stopped and the door I was leaning on opened. I fell out of the van and snapped out my wings. The blonde haired guy, the whitecoat called him Dylan, looked down at me and stepped on my stomach, keeping me from flying up and hitting him.

"Nice try." Dylan spit at me. I tried to shove his foot off of me, but he just pressed down harder.

I looked up at him, "Why are you doing this? You're like us too." I gasped for air. "You have wings. We are the same. Why are you giving us up like this?" I tried making him feel guilty.

He stared down at me and laughed, "I'm nothing like you. You see; you are going to die, I am not. It is as simple as that." He removed his foot and kicked me in the gut. Man, I hate him. Dylan picked me up by my neck and punched my jaw with the other hand. I heard the undeniable _CRACK! _And clenched my fists to keep from crying out.

"F-fuh yew. Yer nothin bussa bas-tar." My jaw was broken, so my talking was slurred and painful. Dylan gave me a small smile and threw me over his shoulder.

"I know, I'm a bastard, I know." He laughed. "Jake! Fernardo! Get the other two from the van and follow me." I craned my head and looked back at the two whitecoats grabbing Janie and Josh. The one whitecoat was having extreme problems carrying Josh, so the other whitecoat had to give Janie to Dylan and helped drag Josh. Dylan started walking and the whitecoats followed. I kept my eyes open, remembering any routes that could help in our escape. Dylan opened a door and stopped in a room. I thought that this was where they were going to keep us, but I was wrong. A whitecoat came into the room and got on her knees. I was confused why they were doing this, but I saw what she was doing. She put a key in the lock and twisted it. In a couple of seconds, she pulled up a small trap door. Dylan threw Janie and me down into it. Underneath the trap door was a small room that had no hope for escape. The walls had no windows. Great.

The whitecoats threw Josh down into the room with me and Janie. Why couldn't they put us in dog crates? Dog crates were easy to get out of. This room… it was probably indestructible.

"Have fun, little owls." Dylan said before he shut the trap door. I heard a lock switch close and sighed. After minutes of sitting and doing nothing, Josh and Janie woke up at the same time… freaky.

"Where are we?" Janie asked.

I rubbed my temples. It was becoming a habit of mine. I glided my finger across my jaw and took a deep breath. If I didn't pop my jaw into place soon, it would heal incorrectly because we heal extremely fast. I didn't know how to pop a jaw back in. It would just have to stay like this for now. "Holdin' shell." I made out painfully. "No eshcape."

Janie groaned, "What happened to your jaw? And there has to be some esca—"

_BOOM!_

It was all a blur. I was sitting a few inches away from a wall. A giant explosion came from the other side and the bricks from the wall went flying all over our room. Fire was engulfing the plaster that covered the bricks. Shards of a grenade went flying toward my face. I ducked before anything could severely damage me. Josh rolled on top of Janie and was covering her from the blast. I looked up at part of the wall that was on fire and it fell on me.

I was covered head to toe in debris.

**Max POV**

The flock and I had gone through every possibility to get out of the small room. Our wings were clipped together, so we couldn't fly out. Now why couldn't we just unclip each other's wings? There were small locks on it; we had to have a key to loosen up the pins grip. Iggy's bomb was our only source of freedom… but we couldn't use it yet.

We waited for hours for someone to open the door, but no one came. My mind clicked on and I almost jumped up from my sitting position from excitement.

"Iggy! Do you still have that lock picking set that I tried to get you to get rid of? It could unclip our wings!" His face brightened up and he pulled a small box out of his shirt. The box wasn't bigger than one an engagement ring would go in.

"I forgot about this set! I haven't had to use it since at the Institute in New York!" He stood up and walked over to me. "Max, I need to pull up the back of your shirt." I nodded and mumbled a small 'okay'. Iggy's fingers gently brushed the back of my shirt up and felt the edges of the pin. He pulled on it and I winced. "Sorry." He muttered. He pulled a small metal needle out and shoved it inside the lock that was on the pin. He moved the needle around gently. About five minutes later I heard a small click. Iggy pulled out the needle and slipped the unlocked pin out of my wings.

I stretched my wings full out. You don't know how _good _it felt to crack all of my wing's joints. They were pinned down for so long. Iggy undid everyone's wings under half an hour. I was so proud of him.

He looked down at the small needled in the palm of his hand and sighed, "Who is going to unlock mine?" I hadn't thought of that…

"I will." Gazzy said. Iggy nodded and handed the needle to Gazzy. "You just push the needle into the lock, when you feel a gap of air, take it out and start over. The needle should feel like its pressing against a wall. Push on the needle when you feel the wall. It unlocks it." Gazzy nodded and pulled up Iggy's shirt. A whole forty-five minutes later, Gazzy had Iggy's wings free.

"Finally." I heard Nudge mutter to Angel.

I smiled and patted Gazzy on the back, "Thanks, Gasman." We all sat down, our wings fully outstretched. It was really boring in this room. Iggy pulled out the grenade and traced his fingers over it, trying to guess what model grenade it is. Gazzy walked over and sat next to Iggy. Gazzy tried to pull the bomb out of Iggy's hand, but Iggy slapped his fingers away. Gazzy narrowed his eyes playfully and grabbed the grenade. Iggy held onto the other end and they both started pulling. I was about to tell them that that was dangerous when Gazzy pulled something off of the grenade.

"Great. You probably just broke it." I yelled at them.

"NO!" Iggy yelled. "Duck and cover! He pulled out the pin!" Iggy and Gazzy threw the bomb to one side of the room and we all ran to the other. A giant blast engulfed the room, but it only shattered the wall on the other side.

Nudge and Angel were curled up in balls under me. Iggy had thrown himself over Gazzy.

"Report." I said.

"Fine here." Nudge said.

"I'm okay. Gazzy that was so dumb of you!" Angel yelled.

"Fine here." Gazzy muttered. He was trying to look sorry, but it was obvious he found this situation funny.

"I could be better." Groaned Iggy. He rubbed the back of his head where debris had hit him.

I stood up and looked at the wall opposite of us. A giant hole was in the middle of it. Bricks and dust was all over the ground. Small flames flickered on the drywall. I walked over to the hole in the wall and peered my head into the other room. Two figures were crumpled on the ground. \

What was the owl flock doing here?

Josh was lying on top of Janie. Josh's platinum blonde hair was covered in dust. Janie had a few cuts and bruises on her legs. I had a sigh of relief seeing that they were okay… but where were Hawk and Xavier? My questions were answered when a giant pile of bricks started moving. Hawk crawled out, blood seeping through her clothes.

"Well shat hurt." She muttered. Josh stood up and helped Hawk out of the debris. "I'm fine." She muttered. "Jus' shum cuts." What happened to her jaw? She could barely talk. I hope the wall didn't do that to her; I would never forgive Gazzy and Iggy for that.

"Guys… are you okay?" I asked. Three sets of eyes stared up at me and widened.

"MAX!" Janie squealed. She stood up and ran over to me, tackling me into a hug. I hugged her back and smiled as Hawk and Josh wiped dust off of themselves.

"We are fine. Is your flock here?" Josh asked.

I nodded. The flock walked over to the hole in the wall and peered into the other room. "That's Iggy. He's blind, but can do anything. He is fifteen." I pointed to Iggy who waved. "That's Nudge. She is twelve. That's Gazzy. Don't sit next to him after eating Mexican food. He is nine. And that is Angel. She is Gazzy's sister. She is seven." I looked at Angel who smiled at Hawk. "Guys, these are the people that took care of me and Fang while we were gone." The flock nodded and relaxed a bit. I was so proud that they were on alarm still.

"Hawk you should let Iggy check out your jaw… he is good at stuff like that." Hawk looked at Iggy and shrugged. Iggy stepped over the pile of bricks on the floor and lifted his hand up to her jaw. His finger traced the side of her face. After a few moments of feeling the break, we heard a small _pop_, and Hawk sighed with comfort.

"Thanks." Hawk said without a slur.

"No problem." Iggy gave her a small smile and walked back over to me. We sat there in silence for a moment, both flocks checking each other out.

"It's cool reading your mind, because you are reading mine." Angel said to Hawk. I didn't even know they were already interacting with each other.

Hawk smiled, "I was just about to say the same thing."

Hawk looked back at Janie and Josh and then back at us, "Hi… I'm Hawk. I'm fifteen. This is Janie. She is fifteen too. And that is Josh. He is nineteen. My little brother Xavier is ten. He got away before Dylan could catch him." My flock waved at the owl flock. "We are part owl. You guys are part avian, so don't ask why our wings are bigger than yours." Both flocks nodded and smiled. The owl kids stepped through the hole in the wall into our room.

I took a deep sigh of relief. At least some of us could be together. Even though we were together before whatever Itex had planned for us… I can't help but fear for Fang. He looked so… lifeless when Dylan left him tied to the pole. I know he will get out of the situation some way, but it was so horrible seeing Fang go through that.

The two flocks started talking right away. Nudge and Janie were chattering away about something. Josh was teaching Gazzy fighting moves, Hawk and Iggy were talking to each other. Angel had a sly smile on her face. She was obviously talking to Hawk talk through telepathy. Was Angel seriously playing matchmaker in this place? Between Hawk and Iggy? Let's see how that turns out. I rolled my eyes and sat next to Angel.

She turned her attention off of Hawk and onto me, "Hey, Max." Angel leaned her head on my shoulder and I let her. Angel had pointed a gun at me before. Angel had tried taking over the flock. Angel had told me I would never be good enough for the flock. But right now she believed in me. That's all I could ask for. "I'm sorry… about everything."

"It's okay, sweetie. Just don't do it again." I chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about Fang. He will be fine. According to Janie's thoughts, she sent that Xavier boy back to our house to check and see if we were okay. Xavier will find Fang." She gave me a sweet smile.

"Thanks, Angel. I hope so." _I really, really hope so. _


	16. Don't Keep Us Waiting

**Dylan POV**

Life. Is. Good.

I sat back on the headboard of the bed the whitecoats provided me with. I looked around the room I was in. It had white walls and white tiled floors. My furniture was comfortable though. The bed here was a hell of a lot better than the mattress Max's flock had me sleeping on. I didn't feel like I was being jabbed in the side by a spring. I smiled and took a swig of the coffee that a whitecoat brought me.

Trapping the two flocks was so _easy. _I saw that Max and Fang were in love, so I told Max that I was her perfect other half. Even her "voice" was telling her I was her other half. (I will tell you how I did that later.) Fang didn't like the fact that I was Max's supposed soul-mate, so he started getting on edge. I thought that Fang would take some time to himself and leave, but he just told me to get away from Max. He even wrote a very rude document to me on his computer. I had to get Fang out of there to make Max vulnerable. I called him and told him I would kill the flock if he didn't leave. I expected Max to be in a crumpled heap when Fang left, but instead she left to look for him. I couldn't just take part of the flock to Itex, my mission was to bring them all. When Max left, I had to hold back on bringing to flock to Itex. Before Max left, I planted a chip on her shirt so I could find her when she was looking for Fang. I planned on getting the whole flock in one night. I morphed into an eraser to disguise myself while I tried to knock the flock out. That failed. I decided to just go for Max, but that failed also. I didn't expect them to already be allied with different flock.

But it's okay. I got them now.

I was able to relax for a while. There were two more flocks of bird-people in the world. The whitecoats said that the flock I was going after next was located somewhere in New Jersey. Because we were in Itex, which is miles away from Jersey, I was able to take a week long break before I was off to get the other flock.

It was funny how easy it is to find the bird kid flocks. Every flock leader was chipped, so finding them was cake. That's right. All of the leaders have chips in them. All of the flock leaders love their flock too much to ditch them, so wherever the leaders are; the flock is close by. Max had a chip in her, but somehow it was removed. I was Itex's secret weapon. I am planted with the flocks. Getting the flocks to Itex was all on me.

I took another drink of coffee and set it down on the small white side table. My eyes shut and I was about to fall asleep when my room started shaking and a small _crack_ noise came from the walls around me. Within seconds the shaking was gone. I raised my eyebrow. A small cracking noise to a human could seem like nothing, but because I had extreme hearing it sounded like a mini explosion.

My mind quickly shot to that Iggy guy. He was always obsessed with bombs. He probably set a bomb off to help them escape. A small grin crept on my face. The door to the room was on the ceiling, so they couldn't blow the door out. They probably tried to glue it to the ceiling and detonate it. They are probably all dead.

But just to check…

I got up from the bed and walked out of my room. After walking through a series of hallways, I finally found my way into the main computer lab. Hundreds of whitecoats were swarming around holding notes and DNA samples. I found the certain whitecoat I was looking for and walked toward him, a deadly expression on my face.

"What do you need, Dylan?" Jeb Batchelder said to me coldly. He was reading over a file and didn't even bother to look up at me. I narrowed my eyes. I didn't like Jeb. He was always gloating about how amazing Max and the flock were. Once he heard Itex's plan for the flock, he started becoming more distant. He hadn't said a word to me in weeks. He didn't bother saying a small 'hello!'. Nope. He just cut straight to the chase.

"My room was shaking. My walls made cracking noises. My room is directly two floors above the room the cell that the Avian-hybrid flock is being held in. I think they tried setting off a bomb." I gritted my teeth, and finally Jeb looked up at me, an alert expression on his face.

He shook his head, "We would have heard an explosion, Dylan. And weren't you supposed to check them for weapons before they got here?" Jeb arched his eyebrow at me. My fists clenched: He thought of me as just some dumb fifteen year old.

"The walls are soundproof, so you wouldn't have heard it." Dumbshit. "And I don't have time to check them when they are fighting me." Outsmarted by a person who hasn't even been alive for more than a year.

Jeb sighed and set the files he was holding down on a desk. He grabbed a ring that was holding more than fifty keys on it out of his pocket. He started walking out of the computer room towards the cells holding the flock.

We were in for a gruesome sight. A smile crept to my face.

The bomb had probably killed them.

**Fang POV**

"Argh!" I struggled against the ropes that held me against the pole. I groaned as marks formed on my skin from the rope's tightness. Dylan was going to pay. I knew where he took my flock and if he lays a hand on them his head will be rolling.

My face had blood on it from my nose. I had cuts and bruises. And I'm pretty sure Dylan gave me a pretty bruise on my groin area. That stupid piece of shit.

I felt something poking my skin and I craned my neck to see the necklace Angel made us for our 'birthdays'. That felt like ages ago. The top part of a snake jaw hung from the string around my neck. The fang on the jaw was sharp enough to, say, cut through a rope holding a poor, defenseless bird-kid tied to a pole. One problem. My hands were tied to my side. I silently cursed to myself and tried to bite through the rope.

That resulted in a lot of pain in my front teeth.

The other thing that sucked was my legs were tired. I couldn't sit down because the ropes were so frikin _tight_. I had to put up with it for another hour.

How could I simply being tied to a pole restrain me like this? I felt to open. I was in the woods tied to a pole. I heard flapping coming from the sky. _Please let it be Max. Please let it be Max._

Whoever it was landed behind a giant green shrub. They stood up and I could only see their head from behind the shrubbery. Too short to be Max, and wings are too big to be Max's. At least it wasn't Dylan.

I took a deep sigh of relief as Xavier came out from behind the bush. Could it be Dylan while he was shapeshifted? I narrowed my eyes.

"It's really me Fang." Xavier said.

I didn't want to be mean to Xavier, but if it wasn't him I could get killed, "Prove it." I narrowed my eyes. My heart tightened a little as his small ten-year-old face fell a little.

He paused and then looked me in the eye, "I think of you as an older brother. Josh is a good friend, he is nice and stuff, but… you're different. You and Hawk are good friends. That guy… with the blonde hair, he came to the cave pretending to be you… he attacked my flock and took them away… when he was transformed as you… he kissed Hawk. I thought it was you and I felt so… _betrayed._" His blue eyes looked up at me. Sadness was hiding in them. "Also… you're very picky when you don't eat breakfast." He smirked at the last part.

I nodded my head, "Okay. I believe you… Can you untie me?" Xavier nodded and walked over to me.

"Did the guy do this to you?" he asked. I nodded.

"His name is Dylan. He and I fought. I obviously lost… He took my flock." I said the last part through clenched teeth. "What happened to your flock?"

Xavier gave me a small speech on what happened to his flock. My fists clenched. Dylan _kissed Hawk as ME?_ Pissed was an extreme understatement. Hawk was awesome. She was a good friend. One of the first people I have trusted outside of my flock in a while. But I didn't like her enough to kiss her. Especially because I love Max.

Xavier fumbled with the ropes, "Was this guy a sailor? These knots are impossible to get out!" He sighed and walked around the pole to look me straight in the face.

"Use the snake jaw." I leaned my head back and Xavier took off my necklace. I hadn't ever taken it off since Angel had given it to me. Max had the bottom part of the snake jaw on her necklace. The necklaces connected us. Xavier picked at the rope with the fang and finally the rope was thin enough for Xavier to snap. He unraveled the rope and I was free.

I stepped away from the pole and cracked all of my joints, giving a small smile as Xavier handed me the necklace. I put it back on and looked at him.

"Thanks." I said.

He shrugged, "What now?"

I looked up at the porch that was about a hundred feet above us, "We eat. Pack things for a trip. Then save our flocks from hell on earth." Xavier unfurled his wings and jumped into the air, flying up to the porch. I quickly followed.

It felt _so_ good to crack all of my wings joints after having them squeezed to my back for that long of a time. By the time I walked inside the house, Xavier already had his head inside the fridge. He pulled out a giant jar of mac and cheese than Iggy probably made for yesterday's dinner. Xavier grabbed two forks and we both dug in.

"This is amazing. Better than Hawk's mac and cheese. Don't tell her this… but she can't cook for her life." I laughed.

"Neither can Max." I smiled and shoved the food into my mouth.

After eating and washing up, it was time to leave. Xavier's face was grave when we walked out of the front door onto the porch. He knew we had to go get the flocks from Itex. I did something that surprised both of us. I held his hand and _tried _to give him a reassuring smile. He was startled at first, but then he smiled and saluted me. I let go of his hand and both of us ran off of the porch.

We were heading to Hell… Fun.

**Max POV**

Let me tell you this: Iggy and Hawk were getting along.

How do I know this? Iggy was smiling like a kid in a candy store. And I have barely ever seen Iggy smile like that.

After a while, everyone except for Hawk, Josh, and I fell asleep. Angel fell asleep first. After a while Gazzy became tired from the training Josh was giving him so he lay down next to his sister and put his arm over her defensively. Nudge and Janie had finished their talking and passed out. Josh sat down next to Janie and watched over her. Iggy and Hawk had finally stopped flirting and they just sat there. Iggy fell asleep after a while.

"Anyone have any ideas on how we are getting out of here?" I leaned back on the wall. Usually I wouldn't go around asking for help, but they were the oldest in their flock and we needed to plan together. "I thought we could use Iggy's bomb, but that plan was blown to shit." I shook my head and looked at Iggy.

Hawk gave a small smirk and gave Iggy's hand a squeeze. I didn't notice they were holding hands before. The squeeze of Iggy's hand woke him up immediately.

"What's up?" He asked on full alert.

Hawk mentally hit herself on the head, "Sorry. I forgot you're extra sensitive to touch. I didn't mean to wake you up." Iggy nodded and leaned his head back on the wall. "But you should probably be up. We are planning an escape."

_Not out loud. They could be recording us. _I said to Hawk. She nodded.

_I'm going to do something cool. Don't freak out. _Hawk said. I guessed she said it to everyone because we all nodded. In a split second, I was hearing Iggy, Hawk, and Josh talking. But no one was saying it out loud. It was in our _minds._

_Uhm… Can everyone hear me right now? _I was so confused.

_Why can I hear your thoughts? _Iggy asked.

Josh and Hawk looked entertained by our confusion. _It's like a… telepathic IM. We can all hear everyone thinking. But it's through my head. So Iggy is sending me a thought, and I am sending it to everyone else. My flock did it all the time when we were captured._

My eyes widened and I smiled. Can Angel do that?

_I can teach Angel how to do this. It's easy. So back to the escape. Any ideas? _Hawk looked to all of us. We just shrugged. After moments of silence, Iggy spoke up.

_Can we just fly through the ceiling? _He asked.

_Sorry, Ig. It's made of bricks. _I said.

Hawk sighed, _Josh! That's brilliant!_

My eyebrows came together. Josh didn't say anything to anyone. My face was in a question mark expression. _What?_ Iggy and I said together.

_Gazzy, _Josh said. _He said that Nudge can control metal. He was explaining what powers everyone has. The trap doors are made of metal. Can't she just use her power to pull out the screws in the door? It will fall right out. _

I wanted to jump up and cheer, but I didn't. I just smiled. I stood up and walked over to Nudge. I shook her arm and she opened her eyes and looked at me groggily.

"Hmrphmmm…" She muttered.

"Nudge, sweetie, wake up. I need you to do something." I hit her cheek lightly to wake her up. She was always a late bloomer. "Come one." I looked over to Hawk who nodded. She started explaining to Nudge what she needed to do through their minds. Nudge smiled and nodded. I shook everyone else awake. The second Angel woke up she had a big smile on her face.

"That was so smart, Josh." She whispered to him. He smiled at her and stood up. Everyone snapped out their wings. The owl kids had trouble fitting their wings because of their size, but we managed.

Nudge stuck out her hand. Slowly, a bolt unscrewed and flew to the ground. Nudge gave a bright smile and another bold flew out. Twenty bolts later, I flew up and punched the door. It fell down, leaving a giant hole in the ground. I grabbed the edge of the hole and pulled my wings in. I pulled my weight up and dangled in the air. Out of nowhere, someone stepped on my fingers.

"Ow." I said. The boot flew off of my fingers and kicked me in the head. I fell back down the hole and looked up at the person from the room. Dylan looked down at us angrily. Jeb just had a smile on his face.

"How? How could you possibly do this?" Dylan spit at us.

"Because we're cool like that." I smiled and flew up to the hole. I pulled in my wings before they could hit the ceiling and then pulled them out again when I was out of the room, standing in front of Jeb and Dylan. My heard clenched as I saw Jeb's face smiling at me. Dylan ran at me and pulled his fist back to punch me. I blocked the punch and kneed him in the stomach. The air left his lungs with a _woosh, _but it didn't faze him. He turned around and punched me. Then he punched me again. And again. He clipped my chin and my head whipped to the side. I turned around and kicked him in the jaw. He rolled his eyes and tried pushing me down the hole. I jumped over it and he flew toward me. Literally.

I jumped over him and he flew up, grabbing my foot. With all of his might, he flung me back down through the hole and into the room.

_He is going to try and kill you all. Get out of there. Now. _Ahh. My Voice. I hadn't heard from it since the day Josh brought me to the cave. It seemed like such a long time ago.

_How? He is covering the door! How do I get out? _I was frantic. Josh was trying to fly up to get through the hole, but Dylan kept kicking him.

_There is another door. The other room._ I looked over to the hole in the wall that the bomb created.

"Nudge!" I yelled. She looked over to me. I ran through the hole in the wall and she followed. The other room had a door on the ceiling too. She understood and stuck out her hand. The bolts came out faster. She was getting the hang of this. Once the last bolts were out, I flew up and threw open the door. Dylan was kicking Hawk and Josh out of the hole in the ground. I flew at him from behind and punched him in the back of his neck.

Dylan didn't expect it so he stumbled forward, almost falling into the hole. He twirled around and tackled me to the ground. I was lying flat on the floor; he was straddling me, his hands around my neck. He let my neck go and punched my throat. I coughed violently. Dylan gave a small smile.

"It's sad how weak you are. The Mighty Max is finally being beaten." He punched my forehead so hard that I saw stars. Jeb was watching this with an interested look on his face. That bastard. Whitecoats swarmed into the room we were in. Hawk, Iggy, and Josh had gotten out of the hole and were trying to help the others out of the room that trapped us, all while fighting off whitecoats. Dylan punched me in the face and my skin split on my cheek. I swallowed down the scream that threatened to escape my throat. He kept on hitting me until I saw stars. I was so close to blacking out. Why didn't he just do that stupid poking thing he did?

Dylan stopped punching me and caressed my cheek, "You could have been so powerful…" He looked… mesmerized? My breaths were coming in short gasps.

"Get…" That voice. It sounded so far away. Like a distant memory. "the hell off of her." The person sounded pissed. Beyond pissed. I opened my eyes and a small smiled came to my face. Fang.

Fang looked down at me with a pained expression. His jaw was clenched. Before Dylan could do anything, Fang leapt at him and threw Dylan off of me. Fang pinned him against the wall and threw punch after punch. Dylan looked like mince meat once Fang was done. But he… he still fought. Fang threw him to the ground and kicked him in the gut. Dylan just stared up at Fang the whole time. Fang's eyes… they had a scary look in them.

When Fang fought Ari, he was ravenous. He hurt Ari… but he didn't look like death. Now he did.

Right now Fang was scaring me. He was going to kill Dylan. I saw Fang put both hands on Dylan's head… if he twisted his head, Dylan would die. Fang took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let go of Dylan's head and stood up. He dragged Dylan to the hole and dropped him down into the room. I looked back at the two flocks. Hawk was hugging Xavier, who probably came with Fang. Nudge and Janie had pale faces. Gazzy and Iggy were high-fiving each other. Josh was checking for pulses on the whitecoats that were unconscious on the ground. And Angel was staring at Fang with tears in her eyes. She was obviously talking to Fang through telepathy… She probably heard all of his thoughts… She probably talked Fang out of killing Dylan.

Angel had never seen Fang lose control like that. And let me tell you, it's scary as hell.

Fang looked at her and she nodded. I walked over to Angel and hugged her, "It's okay, sweetie." She nodded and wrapped her small arms around her neck.

"Max, I want to get away from all of this. Go somewhere else. Not the house we were at before." I nodded and kissed her forehead.

"Max, more whitecoats are coming." Iggy said. "They aren't that far. Let's go." I nodded as Hawk and Josh started leading everyone out of the building. I was just about to leave the room when I saw Fang wasn't following. I stopped and Angel looked up at me.

"Go." She nodded and ran out the door.

"Fang…" I muttered. "Come on. We have to go." Fang shook his head and looked at me.

"I almost killed him, Max. I never lost control like that… not even on Ari." He bit his lip. His face was calm, but his eyes displayed pure horror. I ran over to him and hugged him.

"Fang, we need to go now. I don't care if you are the most dangerous person on earth. I love you. The flock loves you. We need you… if you aren't there then we are missing parts of ourselves." I looked up into his eyes. "Please… just come on."

He didn't look at me, but he nodded. I grabbed his hand and both of us sprinted out of the room. "Do you remember any escapes?" He nodded and led me through a series of hallways. I hope the flocks were able to find their way out. What if they got lost? Don't think about that, Max. They are fine.

I heard footsteps behind us and flipped off the whitecoats who were cursing at us. I looked forward and saw that Fang was leading us to a giant glass wall that lead to outside. Both of us braced ourselves and crashed through the window. We snapped out our wings and looked up. Both flocks were staring down at us. They all seemed to sigh in relief when they saw us.

"Come on guys, let's—"

"_Blow this joint_." My flock said in harmony. The owl flock raised their eyebrows, but smiled. I took a deep breath of air as we flew away. Flew away from everything bad. Maybe now I could be free.

_Max, you aren't free until you save the world. I'll give you a little hint. You have to find the other two flocks that are out there. You all have to join together and save the world. Have a nice journey. _I groaned inwardly. Fang looked over at me with a hard expression on his face. He was taking almost killing Dylan hard. Fang didn't kill anything that wasn't an Eraser or wasn't a robot. Dylan was neither. Dylan was too real for Fang to kill.

I gave him a small reassuring smile, but it hurt my cheek that had a big cut. He nodded and looked forward.

"So where are we going? We can't go back to your house or our cave." Hawk said after a while.

Angel was glowing. She obviously read my thoughts and knew my plan. "I know. We are going to Lake Mead. It's near Arizona. There is a cave there that we have stayed in once. I think it would be a good place to stay at for a while." Hawk nodded at me and let me take the point in the Vee that we were forming in the sky. I let my senses lead me toward Lake Mead.

It felt so _good_ to be free. At the moment.


	17. Leaving So Soon?

I really need to write more of these. People probably find it extremely boring when I just start off with the story. I am going to start off with a catchy quote now. Some of them are from my friend… so don't be like 'I HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE YOU STUPID DISGRACE!' :p Here I go.

Quote #1: Don't tell me sky is the limit when people have been on the moon. 

I think it's a pretty good quote. If you want to, leave a quote that maybe I can put up here. I will say who gave me the quote and all. Sooo… bye.

**Max POV**

Getting the hawks in the cave to not attack the owl kids was hell.

My flock had avian genes, so the hawks were used to our scents. The owl kids didn't have such luck. The second they stepped foot in the cave, the hawks started to perch into attack position. My flock spread our wings to try and calm the hawks down. The owl kids slowly started to rub their feathers against ours to cover their scent. It calmed down the hawks, but only slightly.

After about an hour of having the owl flock sit still and get the hawks used to their owl-y scent, we could finally settle into our new "home". It was nice seeing both flocks look so at peace. You could tell that the owl flock was missing their own cave, but they didn't complain. They were used to having to move at a moment's notice. Both flocks were talking to each other. Nudge and Janie were chattering away in the corner. When their voices got too loud hawks would screech at them. Gazzy and Xavier were talking about how to make a microwave-oven explode. I hoped Gazzy wasn't trying to corrupt Xavier. Josh and Angel seemed to like each other. It was funny how the oldest and the youngest were hanging out. Iggy and Hawk… That was a relationship waiting to happen. All of them were tucked away in the cave behind the small campfire they created. Fang and I were the only ones who sat at the ledge, letting our feet dangle outside of the cave.

We didn't say anything for a while. The only thing we could hear was the soft hum of the two flocks' voices. Fang looked at me and I grabbed his hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze. He sighed and bit his lip.

"Can we go for a fly?" He looked into my eyes. The crescent moon was reflecting off of his eyes. I nodded and stood up. Fang stood up and looked at the lake that was hundreds of feet below us. For a moment, I saw all of the pain and emotion he was feeling, but it was gone in a flash.

"We are going to go look for some food. We'll be back. Stay in groups if you go out flying." I looked at the flocks and they just smiled and nodded. I looked back out to the opening of the cave and extended my wings. Fang extended his long, black wings. It was so mesmerizing to watch him take off into the night sky. It took me a moment to realize that I had to follow. I jumped into the breezy night and took a deep breath of the fresh air that surrounded me. It felt nice to be breathing fresh air rather than the antiseptic smell back at Itex. I tried to calm myself for what was coming.

Fang and I have had only a couple of heart-to-heart talks. Fang hated emotions as much as I did; so why should I be talking about them? Because I knew Fang. I knew Fang so well, that even though his face had shown no emotion, I still knew he was freaking out on the inside about what happened with Dylan.

Our wings were flapping in sync with each others. Every down-stroke, our feathers would brush a little bit. I looked over at Fang and he nodded. Both of us started flying downward. We landed on a patch of sand that was on the side of the lake. Lake Mead looked beautiful at night. The moon and stars were reflecting off of the water. Giant pine trees surrounded the sides of the lake. The water was a pretty crystal color. It didn't look like civilization knew about this place; it was so clean.

Fang looked at me and put his hands in his jean pockets. I noticed that he had a big tear in his black leather jacket. Probably from his fight with Dylan back at the house. Fang sighed and looked up at the stars.

"I wanted to kill him so much. I would hurt people, but never kill if I had the choice. I wanted to hurl after I beat up Dylan in Itex. I was so close to staying there. I didn't ever have that kind of rage in my life. And I have had a lot of rage…" Fang trailed off and sat on a large boulder that was a couple of feet to our right. I sat next to him and put my hand on his knee. I was getting this comforting thing down.

Fang put his hand over mine and we sat there for a few moments, "I know how you feel. When I thought I killed Ari… I didn't know what to think. I knew it was by accident, but I still thought I was a danger to the flock. But, Fang, you have to realize that you are a danger to the flock if you go away. We aren't 100% safe if we don't know that one of our flock is safe. We need you." I looked up at the stars and went over what I just said in my head. Was it a good enough speech? Should I say more? Did I make him feel loved enough?

Fang looked at me; his face was expressionless, as usual. Slowly, he put his finger under my chin and pulled my face closer. He put his arm around my shoulder and kissed me. It was so _unfair_ how I could just melt into his kiss. I put both of my hands on his cheeks as he lay down, pulling me down with him. I was happy this boulder was big enough to let tall mutant bird-kids lay on it. He stopped kissing me and looked at my check.

"Why did he caress your cheek like you could have been a prized possession?" HE was talking about Dylan, when we were back in Itex. His brows came together in confusion.

I shrugged and rested my head on his chest, "There are a million things that could have been running through his head at the moment. I think rape was one of them." I gave a small smirk, but Fang's face turned into a frown.

"Don't joke about that. I _would _kill him if he did that." He wrapped his arms around me. I rolled my eyes.

"Like he could ever get near me to do that." I smiled as I realized our heartbeats were on the same beat.

_Well, he had no problem tackling you to the ground and straddling you._ Ah, the beloved Voice, who shows up at the worst times possible. I decided to ignore it and pay attention to Fang, who was rubbing the spot on my back in between my wings. His lips slowly met mine again and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

_Maximum, you are wasting time. You have to go find the other flocks before it's too late. _Dumb Voice. All I am trying to do is get in some time with my boyfriend and it rudely interrupts. _Max, listen to me. You need to get to the other bird kids! You must build your mutant army. They are your chance to save the world._

I rolled my eyes and Fang and mine lips parted. "_Shut up…" _I said to the Voice.

Fang's brow creased with confusion, "What? I didn't say anything… it's kinda hard to talk while kissing." He gave a playful little smirk that drove me insane.

"Not you, the Voice. It keeps going on and on." I sighed and rested my head on his chest. Fang wrapped his arms around me and took a deep breath. _Leave me alone for now! _I whined mentally.

_Sorry, Max. Dylan is planning on going to New Jersey Shore to find the other flock tomorrow. You need to get there before he does or you lose part of your army. _

My eyes widened. Are you _kidding_ me? New Jersey? We are in Arizona! There is no way we could make it to Jersey in one day! Even if we don't stop it would be impossible.

"I know what we have to do. Not many of the flock are going to like it." I sighed and looked up at the stars. His body tensed up and he craned his neck to look at me, ready for me to tell him my plan. "We have to go to New Jersey… we have to be there by tomorrow night. Almost impossible. Maybe if we start flying within an hour." Fang groaned and laid his head back down. I patted his chest and sat up. We both stood up and snapped out our wings. Before we knew it we were back inside the cave.

When we entered, Hawk groaned and stood up. She obviously read my mind and knew the plan before I told everyone. Iggy stood up too; he was like her lap dog. I had to repress a laugh at that thought. When I shook out my wings everyone looked at me. "I have a plan. I know a lot of you are probably not going to like it, but it consists of us leaving in the next hour." I saw all of the younger kids faces look disappointed. They didn't want to leave there temporary home. "Grab what you brought here. We are going to leave for New Jersey. Why Jersey? You ask. There are other flocks. We need to find them and befriend them. Itex gave me this plan. There are two remaining flocks in the world, not including us. If we all join together, we can destroy Itex." All of the eyes looked at me. They were reluctant on leaving, but they were ready to do anything to help me out. I was so proud.

"This is our chance to save the world." All of the eyes in the cave looked confident. Even the hawks… New idea.

**Dylan POV**

"Those fucking bird kids." I gritted my teeth and wrapped a bandage around my leg. Max put up a decent fight, but Fang was seconds away from killing me. I had cuts and bruises everywhere. Fang was very protective over his little whore.

Jeb rolled his eyes at me, "You shouldn't have let them get away." His tone said that he wanted them captured, but his eyes said that he was happy they escaped. "You were weak. Now you must leave tomorrow to find the other flocks. Max will be looking for the other flocks soon. You have to get there before she does." He sighed and looked down. I nodded and stood up. I was in one of the labs inside of Itex being bandaged up.

"Great. Just fucking great." I groaned. I had to leave tomorrow. "Do the stupid whitecoats know where the other avian-hybrid flock is?"

Jeb nodded and looked up, "You will be leaving for Point Pleasant, New Jersey in the morning. Do you have a plan on how to get them to take you in?" I noticed that he looked slightly more interested now that we were talking about a different flock's fate. Not his beloved Max. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to the lab.

Just as I was about to leave, Jeb spoke. "So, what are you going to do?" I looked back at him, my hand still on the doorknob.

"I was going to tell them that Itex sent me and wanted me to kill them." I gave a sarcastic smile and stepped out into the hallway. "Duh." I said, sarcasm dripping. I walked back to my room and started packing clothes into a backpack.

Stupid Max. I wouldn't have to leave for another week if she didn't escape! Well. I'll make sure she doesn't find the other two flocks. Then I will get Max's flock, but I won't spare them and save them for Itex. No.

This time I will kill them all myself.

I know, I know: This chapter was really short. Summer is the season I go to the beach. A lot. I will continue, but it might not be as often and long. Fly on. 


	18. Jolly Rogers

Quote #2: _Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the universe. _Thanks for the quote SeaSaltChocolate :). 

**Max POV**

"No." I said through clenched teeth. Nudge looked at me with pleading eyes. I wouldn't look back at her; the Bambi eyes were too powerful.

"Why not?" Gazzy shouted. I looked back at him, who was flying about thirty feet behind me. I wasn't going to break. Nope. I didn't want to do this. I looked down at the roller coasters that were flinging people side to side below them all. A giant ferrous wheel was spinning people slowly. The night air smelled of pop corn and cotton candy. Jolly Roger Amusement Park was bound to make me twitchy. We had been flying for hours and needed some R&R, and an amusement park was not rest. Ocean City seemed like a pretty good place to find a place for sleep, but this theme park was going to make it hard to get the kids heads in the game.

"Please!" Begged Xavier, who flew up next to me in the blink of an eye. "Hawk never let us go to an amusement park. Don't be like her!" Xavier glanced back at Hawk and she rolled her eyes.

"Ask her then." I smiled and looked straight ahead, ignoring the sounds of laughter coming from the random children below. Xavier whirled around and flew to Hawk. Gazzy and Nudge quickly followed Xavier's begging scheme. This was just like when my flock was begging me to go to Disney.

I looked back at Fang who just shook his head and gave a small smirk. Janie and Josh were holding hands while flying. It must have been extremely hard to position their wings because of the wings size. Iggy was trying to pry the little kids off of Hawk. Okay, so I am going to let a small part of my plan out, but only because you are my trusted peeps! Not. Sorry. You just can't win trust easily with me, but I will tell you this. I got Iggy to connect with the hawks in the cave; they are going to help us battle against Itex. The hawks were cawing slightly and flying behind us; some would occasionally swoop down and try to catch a smaller bird for food. And Angel… was being quiet. Too quiet for my tastes.

Ignoring everyone else, I swooped back and flew next to Angel. If Angel was feeling normal, she would be begging along with Nudge, Gazzy, and Xavier to go to Jolly Rogers. "What's wrong, sweetie?" I looked at her and her big blue eyes shined up at me.

"The hawks," She looked around at the birds that were flying all around us. "They need some food and rest. We can't go to an amusement park with them. They are only sticking around with us because Fang and Nudge earned their trust before…" She looked over at Iggy who was prying Gazzy off of Hawk. She was reading the hawks' minds. Another one of her little powers.

"Don't worry. I think Hawk can resist the Bambi eyes." I gave her a small smile. "I am going to look for a place to land. The hawks can hunt and rest in a little bit." Angel nodded and smiled at me.

"Thanks, Max. I always knew there was a reason you are leader… even if I questioned it at times." Her eyes flashed with sorrow and she tried to swallow it down.

I just nodded, "Thanks…" I mumbled. "We don't have to talk about it. Everyone makes mistakes. Even I do." I flew back up to the front of the two flocks.

A voice came booming, almost as if from a loud speaker: "_Jolly Rogers Amusement Park will be closing in ten minutes. Please start exiting the park as soon as possible. Thank you." _I heard Gazzy and Nudge groan. Xavier made a mad face and stopped bugging his sister. I flew over next to Hawk and looked at her.

"We need to land. The hawks are getting tired. We have been flying for hours. We all need food and sleep." Hawk nodded at gave me a thumbs-up. "We should sleep on that beach over there. There are some woods behind it so I don't think anyone will go to that part of that beach." Hawk started barking orders on where we were going to land. We waved goodbye to the theme park and started losing altitude, descending down to the white sand. The hawks followed our move and landed in the trees of the woods.

When everyone's feet hit the ground, we started a fire. It was the end of the summer, so the nighttime was beginning to get chilly. There wasn't much for us to cook. We only had four hotdogs, six twinkies, and three pieces of bread. Angel refused to tell a fish to kill itself and everyone's fishing skills were horrible, so fish was out of the question. We had to live off of what we had to eat, which wasn't much.

After our not-so-filling dinners, everyone fell asleep and Iggy was on first watch. I felt safe with Iggy being on watch, he could hear anything within a distance of a mile away. My eyes fluttered closed, and I drifted off into one of the worst sleeps I ever had.

**Fang's Blog**

You are visiting Fang's blog. Welcome!

You are Visitor #: The Thing Broke Again.

Yo,

So… we are on the run. Again. But this time, it's with more people. I know I haven't updated this in a while, but I haven't had much time. In my time of absence, a very long line of events happened. I left my flock (Don't ask why), I ended up with another flock of people with owl DNA, Max found me, we found out that Dylan is not only an ass-muncher, but also evil. My flock _and_ the flock I was staying with was captured and taken to Itex, me and Xavier (a little boy from the owl flock) rescued the two flocks, and now we are flying high. Not really. Just so you don't get confused, the owl flock is Josh, Hawk, Janie, and Xavier. We are all somewhere safe… I hope. But I need to ask all of you faithful readers a very big favor. Very bid favor, indeed.

Max is looking for other flocks of bird kids. She is planning on building an army and trying to destroy Itex. To, you know, save the world. The army is us, the other flocks, a bunch of hawks, and hopefully, you people. We need your help. I know Max has too much pride to admit it, but we need some assistance. Create meetings. Go to a meeting close by. Create dates that you can destroy the Itex buildings. You guys have done this before, and I know we can do it now.

From BaybeeLoveex0x0,

_Fang! Where have you been? You have not updated in forever! I need you back! You're my everything!_

To BaybeeLoveex0x0,

_Uhh… No comment._

From SimbaRulz,

_Dude, where iz u ? U just left the blog by its own. Bro, u need to come bak, I am super bored widdout ur blog. This iz wat I read in ma spare time. I helped with the fight with itex by tha way. I think I broke like 4 windowz. U should be proud of me. Update soon bro. _

To SimbaRulz,

_I am back. And thanks for helping with Itex. Can you help with the next fight?_

From IWANTWINGS,

_We should make fight clubs! We could learn self defense and learn how to kick some whitecoat ass! We should destroy Itex even more! People near Detroit, come to the Comercia Park on Saturday. My uncle is a karate teacher and can give us fighting knowledge. We can discuss fighting details there! _

To IWANTWINGS,

_Yes! That is what I am talking about! People, you should go to there. You could help save the world! We kids can make a difference. To all of the whitecoats, this is war!_

Thanks guys.

-Fang.

**Fang POV**

I closed my laptop and tried to relax into the sand. Hawk was sleeping next to Iggy, who was still alert and listening for any noise. He dismissed my blog typing. Everyone was safe. I looked over at Max who looked tense, even in her sleep. She was shaking like mad. I sat up and slid over next to her. I put my hand on her shoulder and her eyes snapped open. She was damp with sweat. I looked at her, trying to keep the emotions off of my face. I didn't want her to know I was worried.

"Nightmare?" I whispered to her. She nodded and sat up. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was sharp and jagged. Iggy turned toward us. "Iggy, we are fine." He nodded and went back to listening to the silent night.

"It was bad, Fang. Really bad." She mumbled.

**Max POV**

_I skidded to halt and stopped running. I had to get away from him, I had to. My lungs were screaming at me, begging for more air. I took deep, long breaths and looked behind me. My wrists were bound in front of me. I was in the middle of the Itex building, alone. _

"_Max." It was his voice. Great. Dylan. "You will choose me in the end. You know that, right? Fang is obsolete" He looked at me. There were no whitecoats following him. Why is he chasing me alone?_

"_Please." I rolled my eyes at him. I was happy to know I could still be sarcastic in a dream. "And what do you mean? I won't have to choose. It's obviously the flock who I am going to choose to be with." _

_He raised an eyebrow, "I meant love." He gave a small smile. I wanted to slap him so hard. Maybe I could get away…_

"_I love Fang. I hate you. Goodbye." I shot my foot up and kicked him in the chest. Dylan stumbled back and grabbed my hand, keeping me from fleeing. "Get off." I hissed._

_He smiled, "You're even weak in a dream. Pathetic. And you will choose me, Max. I'm still your perfect other half."_

"_That is a load of shit." I growled at him. _

_He shrugged, "Or was it?" Dylan let go of my wrist and I ran away from him. I saw a window and ran toward it. I braced myself and crashed through the window._

I woke up to the sight of Fang staring at me. I explained the dream, hoping he wouldn't freak out. There was a moment of silence and then Fang draped his arm over my shoulders.

"Thanks." He muttered.

I looked up at him in surprise, "For what?" I asked.

"For choosing me."


	19. Chipped

Quote #3: _When life gives you lemons, squeeze the juice in someone's eyes. _That one is from me :).

**Iggy POV**

Being on guard when everyone is asleep is very relaxing for me. It's always so quiet. And because we're at the beach, I get to hear the sound of the waves crashing. It's very nice.

I was sitting next to Hawk, who was breathing lightly in her sleep. She's a really cool person. We sort of have a relationship going on here, but nothing like Max and Fang. But it's cool to know that I found a girl I can actually have a relationship with and not have to worry about leaving that person behind because they don't have wings. Like Ella.

Ella is a nice person, don't get me wrong. But she's no Hawk. Ella is more of the sweet stay-at-home mom type of girl. The type of girl I would have to leave behind if the flock had to leave town. Hawk, on the other hand, is a lot like Max. She can take control of a situation, but she can also be gentle. And, on the bright side, she has wings.

I slid my hand over and held Hawk's. I tried to touch her as gently as possible so she didn't wake up. At first she tensed, but then she relaxed again. I let a small smile creep up on my face, knowing that we could possibly be together… thanks to Angel. That little matchmaker.

On the other side of the camp fire, I heard someone struggling. I didn't hear any footsteps coming near the camp so it couldn't be someone trying to kidnap us. I craned my neck to hear better and heard Fang and Max's voices.

"Nightmare?" Fang asked Max. Fang must have seen the look of alarm on my face because he whispered, "Iggy, we are fine." I nodded and tried listening for things away from our camp. But listening to the quiet waves crashing didn't let me stop listening in on Max's nightmare. What a creep, that Dylan is. Did he really go into one of Max's dreams? Things have been inside Max's head before. A grin crept onto my face when Fang and Max went all lovey-dovey. Don't get me wrong, it was disturbing. But I couldn't help thinking about that being Hawk and I instead of Max and Fang. I could comfort Hawk… if we ever get that far.

I heard Fang and Max lie down and fall asleep again and I laid back. The cold sand rubbed against my bare arms. Everyone's breathing was so calming, but I couldn't fall asleep. After a few minutes, I heard someone get up.

"Iggy," Josh whispered. "I'll take next watch. You can go to sleep." I thought about it. Fang was going to take next shift, but his breathing told otherwise. He was in deep sleep. I nodded at Josh and leaned back into the sand next to Hawk. Josh walked back over to where he was before and sat down.

After lying in the sand for a couple of minutes, Hawk rolled over and rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her. Our breathing was in sync. I smiled and slowly fell asleep.

**Max POV**

Do you know how much it sucks to have a person shake you awake after it takes you an hour to fall asleep? A lot.

I guess Josh took Iggy's place on watch, because he woke me up at six a.m. Because Fang and I were so close, Josh woke both of us up.

"What is it?" I asked, on full alert. Fang straightened up and started looking around, seeing if everyone was okay.

"People are coming. We landed on a private beach, which means we are in deep crap if we get caught sleeping here." He whispered. Using my raptor vision, I saw that maybe fifty yards away, people were unloading coolers and chairs from a car. The car was parked in a lot that was to the right of the woods that were lining the beach. Who the hell goes to the beach at six in the morning?

I nodded and started shaking Gazzy awake, "Wake everyone up." Josh nodded and Fang started shaking everyone awake. Within minutes, we were taking off and flying again. The people below us seemed pissed about us staying and not cleaning up. Too bad.

"I'm hungry." Nudge looked at me. "Do we have any money?" I patted my pockets and grinned. The money I stole from Jeb's wallet, from when I went to look for Fang, was still there.

"Who wants to go to a diner? I think I saw one last night." I saw six faces behind me light up. Hawk and Josh were smiling. And Fang just kept his face expressionless. After fifteen minutes of searching, we found a giant diner with absolutely no one there. Just how I like it.

The hostess looked surprised when ten run-down looking kids walked in, but she shrugged it off. We were seated in a huge booth near the back of the restaurant. Each of us looked at our menus, and I swear I saw some mouths watering.

"We have $179.33. The stuff on here is pretty cheap, so order up." I smiled as my stomach growled as the scent of eggs and pancakes floated in the air.

After ten minutes, a waiter and waitress walked up to us with notepads. The waiter walked over to one side of the booth and the waitress came over to my side. She was about sixty, with light gray hair and glasses that sat on her nose.

"Hi, I'm Jenny and I am going to be your server today. Do you know what you want to order, sweetie?" Jenny looked down at Angel who smiled up at her.

Angel nodded and opened up the menu, "I want the Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes, a side of bacon, a side of scrambles eggs, orange juice and a fruit salad, please?" Angel gave her a sweet smile. Jenny looked shocked, but she wrote it all down.

"A growing girl." Jenny mumbled. She looked at Xavier who set the menu down. "What do you want, darling?"

"I will have a bacon and cheese omelet, a hash brown on the side, pancakes to go with that, and a water please."Xavier bit his lip as Jenny wrote down the order on the small note pad. I had a funny feeling that many pages of that pad were going to be used once she was done with us.

Jenny nodded at Fang who took a deep breath, "I'll get the Triple Stack Burger, extra fries, tater tots, and a water."

Jenny looked at Hawk, "I'm not hungry…"She mumbled. Jenny looked at Hawk, her eyebrow was arched.

"You don't want water or anything?" Xavier looked at Hawk, alarm was washing over his features. Obviously, the owl-kids at like we did. Hawk shook her head and looked down. Jenny looked at me, finally, and nodded for me to place my order.

"Can I have a chicken salad wrap, extra fries, a coke, also one of those premium burgers. No pickles, please." Jenny nodded and wrote it all down.

"You guys sure do eat. I'm going to bring the food out, but can you pay for it. The total you have going on right now it $54.99." Jenny looked at me and I smiled.

"This is a birthday breakfast. My parents gave me money to take my cousins and friends out to breakfast so I can celebrate my fifteenth birthday." I smiled, happy with my lie.

Jenny nodded, giving me a warm smile, "Well happy birthday, then. Your food will be out in a few." She smiled and walked off. The other side of the booth was still ordering their food. The waiter was a young guy, maybe about twenty five. He didn't complain about the food order, which made me happy.

I remembered when I took the flock out to dinner in New York and all hell broke loose. The waiter called the manager on us and the police were called. They didn't know what was coming when I stood on the table and snapped out my wings. It is a funny story, if you think about it.

The waiter soon left and everyone started chatting. I looked at Hawk. Why wasn't she eating? She seemed fine moments ago.

"Why didn't you get anything? Are you feeling okay?" Xavier looked across the table at Hawk, who was looking very pale.

"C-can I talk to you outside?" Hawk said to me, barely a whisper. I nodded and slide out of the booth. Fang and Xavier slid out of the booth and let Hawk slide past them and walk out of the diner with me.

"Something is wrong." Josh said as Fang and Xavier sat down. "Something is very, very wrong."

The second Hawk and I were out of the diner doors and in the fresh, morning air, I looked at her.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick? Why didn't you get food? You eat like a hungry bird-kid." I tried to add a smile to the last part, but it just wouldn't come. Hawk looked at me. Her blue eyes were wide and starting to glaze over a little.

"My head hurts… I feel like I am going to—" I realized what she was saying and dragged her over behind a bush. Hawk started puking her guts out. I rubbed her back comfortingly while she did it. I felt bad for her; I hated it when I threw up, and she probably felt the same.

Once she was done, she walked over to the side walk and sat down on the curb. I sat next to her and gave her a sympathetic look. Hawk tried to stop, she really, really tried to stop, but she broke down and started crying. She put her head in her hands and tried to center herself.

Something was horribly, dreadfully wrong.

"Something in my stomach really hurts…" Hawk lifted up her dark red t-shirt and looked down at her stomach. I gasped. Underneath her bellybutton was a small square the size of a thumbnail. The square was something placed _under_ her skin. Bruises lined the edges of the square. Had she always had that? Oh, my God. That looked awfully a lot like the chip that I had in my arm…

Hawk's eyes went wide, "What is that?" She gasped? So she didn't know about it. "That wasn't there this morning. When we got to the diner though…" Hawk took a deep breath and looked at me. "I felt like something was ripping at my stomach. It just, like, surfaced right now."

My eyes went wide and my blood froze in my veins.

Was Hawk chipped?


	20. Way Too Easy

Quote #4: _You're always right, even if you were wrong. _

**Max POV**

Hawk knew that it was a chip the second she saw my facial expression. She tensed up and then tried to look relaxed. We both quietly walked into the restaurant and sat back down in our seats. Everyone could tell something was wrong, but they didn't dare ask here. Once Jenny and the other waiter brought our food, we all chewed in silence. Even Nudge; I was very surprised about that.

Once we were done, I paid and we all left.

"Where do we take off from?" Asked Xavier, who was eyeing Hawk down.

I looked up to the roof of the diner. Lucky for us, it was a flat surface, "The roof." All of us climbed on top of a dumpster and jumped onto the roof. I walked over to Fang, "Fly over to the Bay. Take everyone with you. Hawk, Josh, and I are going to stay for a little. I'll explain later." Fang stared at me for a second and then nodded. He snapped out his wings.

I walked over to Josh, "Stay here for a second. Hawk is going to need your help." Josh nodded. I heard everyone else snap open their wings.

Fang shouted "Up and away!" And everyone flew up… except for Iggy.

Iggy walked over to Josh, Hawk, and I, "What's going on? Why is Hawk going to need Josh's help?" Damn his amazing hearing. I looked down at Hawk, who was sitting on the ground, clenching her stomach. Josh's jaw clenched and he looked at me.

"Iggy, just go up with Fang and everyone else. I'll explain later." I looked at him, but he refused to budge. Probably because he couldn't see the look I gave him. Maybe this whole 'Hawk/Iggy Romance' thing was going to get in the way.

"No, I'm staying right here." Iggy looked at me straight in the eye. It still creeps me out how he could look at you straight in the eye when he couldn't even see them. I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"Fine." A small smile crept up on my face and then he stood there, waiting for me to explain. Josh was probably waiting for me to explain too.

"I'm chipped." Hawk said, barely over a whisper.

Iggy's brow creased and he walked over to Hawk, "Since when?" Hawk coughed. This chip must have done some major damage to her organs.

"I'll explain." I sighed. "Hawk was fine when she woke up this morning , but when she got to the diner she felt a tearing sensation in her stomach. She felt sick so she took me outside and… uh… did her business." I tried to hide the fact that she threw up. I wouldn't want people running around saying I barfed either. "When she lifted up her shirt to show me what was wrong, a small square was under the skin in her stomach. She said she never saw it before."

Josh looked at Hawk, "Can we see it?" Hawk nodded and lifted up her shirt, revealing her stomach. The bruising around the square was becoming more noticeable. Josh's blue eyes widened and then he looked away.

"Can I touch it?" Iggy asked her. Hawk nodded, but Iggy just stood there, waiting for the answer.

"Oh, yeah… blind. I forgot. Yeah, you can touch it." She sucked in a deep breath as Iggy's long, pale fingers traced around the square.

He sighed, "That is definitely a chip. It's about the same size as the scar on Max's arm." Iggy turned his head to the side, as if he could actually see Hawk's disappointed expression. "What are we going to do, Max?" Iggy stood up.

"We are going to find the other flock first. Then we are going to pay a little visit to my mom." A smile came to my face thinking about my mom. Hawk looked surprised. "My mom is a vet. She got my chip out, she can probably get your chip out."

Hawk looked at me, "You have a mom?" Her eyes were wide. I nodded and looked away. It was obvious that the owl-kids wanted to know where their parents were too. "How did you find her?"

"Long story. Maybe Iggy can tell you one day." I looked down at Hawk, who was breathing sharply. "This plan I have got going… It's going to take days. Are you sure you can fly." Hawk's face turned green and she shook her head.

"No… no flying. I'm too nauseous." I sighed and looked at Josh and Iggy.

"Which one of you is carrying her?" Josh ran his fingers through his platinum blonde hair.

Iggy stepped forward, "I'll do it." He crouched down and picked up Hawk. He snapped out his fourteen foot wings and looked at me. I snapped out my wings and backed away from Josh. He has a very, very long wingspan. Josh unfurled his twenty foot wings and smirked. I jumped off of the roof and started flying; the others followed.

_Angel, _I thought, _Tell Fang we are coming. Kapeesh? _

_Okay, Max. No worries. Oh God… Max, Dylan is here! He doesn't see us, but he is so close! Fang has us hiding behind a building right now. Dylan's thoughts say that he is going after the other bird kids! _Angel sounded frantic.

_Which building, sweetie? _I asked, trying to sound calmer than I really was.

_Bayside Building! Hurry, Max. Fang is thinking about going after him!_

My eyes widened and I started flying extremely fast. Within seconds, I saw Bayside Building and landed on the roof. It was only three stories high. I looked down to see Dylan sitting by the bay, eating something. The flocks were hiding on the side of the building, watching him.

I looked back to see how I could get off of the roof without being noticed, when I see two faces staring at me in disbelief.

It was a guy and a girl. They were looking at me, amazed.

I smiled, "What? You've never seen a girl with wings?" A sound came out of the girl's throat. I smiled and jumped off of the building. I landed a few inches behind Fang. The girl and guy were the least of my problems.

"Don't you even think about it." I said as I snapped my wings back in, not even bothering to cool them off. Fang looked back at me and sighed in relief. A few seconds later, Josh landed. Iggy and Hawk soon followed.

"What's the plan?" Fang asked me. I looked back at Gazzy. He was the guy I needed.

"You have any stink bombs?" I whispered to him. He smiled and took his backpack off. He unzipped it and poured out all of the contents. Nine bombs later, he found a stink bomb. How on earth could this little boy possibly carry so much? And where did he get them? It's beyond me.

"Detonate it a little bit behind him." I nodded toward Dylan and Gazzy smiled. Gazzy pulled the pin to the bomb and threw it next to Dylan. Dylan looked back when he heard the _thud_ of the bomb hitting the sand, but thought nothing of it. Seconds later, green gas was floating into the air and Dylan was gagging. Dylan fell to the ground and curled up into a ball, as if to protect himself from the stench.

"Up and away." I whispered. Gazzy and Xavier high-fived and took off. After everyone took off, I looked back at Dylan. It was hard to keep down the laugh that was climbing up my throat. He was spazzing out on the ground. It must smell horrible.

Oh well.

I smiled and took off, heading for New Jersey.

**Dylan POV**

I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them.

It's not going to be fast though… Oh no, no, no. I'm going to make it slow. It's going to be the most painful thing they have ever experienced. It's the last thing they will ever experience.

The shit that came out of the bomb was horrid. Not as bad as the little boy, Gazzy's butt, but bad enough. It made me choke on absolutely nothing. The best I could do to get away from the stench was curl up into a ball and shield my nose and mouth. About an hour later; yeah, a fucking _hour_, the stuff dissipated. I didn't even hear them behind me when they set it off!

I knew the second that the stink-bomb exploded that it was the stupid flock. The blind on and the little one always had bombs. I let them get away! What a stupid thing to do! Because of my actions, they are an hour away. And they are fast.

Fml.

**Iggy POV**

We had been flying for an hour with no trace of Dylan on our butts. We were flying over Delaware now. Clouds began to gather, but Max didn't have any intentions of landing. We had to get to the other flock _today._ Or else Dylan would.

I rolled my shoulders as much as possible without dropping Hawk.

"You must be dying to put me down." She coughed and sighed.

I shook my head, "I've carried heavier for longer. Don't worry." I gave her a small smile and she shook her head.

"It's not going to be okay… This thing in my stomach, it hurts like hell. And I've practically been to Hell." She shifted her weight so I am only holding her with one arm. She lifts my other hand and puts it on her cheek. It was wet from tears. I pulled my hand away and shifted her back into her original position.

"You'll be fine. I promise… I swear." I tightened my arms around her. She really thought she was going to die.

"Passing over the border to Jersey!" I heard Fang shout. "Thirty minutes and we'll probably see—"

He was cut off by Max's laughter, "This is almost too easy!" She almost sounded… giddy.

"What does she mean?" I asked Hawk.

"Bird kids… a lot of them… I think they are the ones we are looking for." She took a deep breath and I felt her head looking around for more of them.

"She's right. That _is_ too easy."


	21. We're In!

Quote #5: _Smile, and the world will smile with you. Laugh, and the world will think you're on drugs. _

**Max POV**

Miles away, in the sky, were a bunch of people swooping in low arcs and twirling in the air.

"Are they dumb?" I thought aloud. They were flying _below_ the clouds, in plain sight, right over civilization. T hey could be seen. I looked over at Fang, who shrugged. Iggy flew up next to me, Hawk in his arms.

"What's the plan, Oh Mighty One?" Hawk asked, so low I could barely hear it. I put a fake smile on my face; more for her sake.

"We are going to use you, of course." I looked up at Iggy, whose face was a complete mask of concern. I don't know if the concern was for sending Hawk into get the other flock's trust, or for Hawk's weak condition.

"Everyone, land!" I looked around. We were about thirty minutes away from the shore, but a small patch of trees was off to our right. "In the trees. Land in them." My flock did a bold move; we dive bombed into the trees. In plain sight. My fingers were crossed. Hopefully, no one saw us.

The second everyone was perched in a tree, I started barking orders.

"Okay, Hawk and Angel, it's up to you. Fang, you're going to carry Hawk up." I shushed Iggy, who was about to complain about not carrying Hawk. "Angel you'll fly behind them. Hawk and Angel, the second you find the leader of the flock, explain _everything_ to them. Make sure they understand. Do it through your minds. Explain that we are in this patch of trees." I looked at everyone, who was hanging on my words. "Angel, I would tell you what you should explain to the other flock…" I paused. "But you probably have been listening to my thoughts." She gave me a sweet, embarrassed little smile. "The second they agree to help us, come back and get us. Then we'll take it from there."

Hawk, Fang, and Angel looked at me. Gazzy jumped over to Angel's tree and gave her a small hug. Iggy kissed Hawk on the cheek and handed her over to Fang. There is most _definitely _something going on between them. I gave a small smile at Fang, who nodded at me.

In seconds, bird kids were raining down on us.

Well that wasn't part of the plan.

Someone tackled me from the tree to the ground. They pinned me down and held down both of my arms. I looked up at them, it was a guy. Light brown hair draped over his shoulders in messy wisps.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He said through clenched teeth.

I looked up at him, trying not to look mad. "My name is Max. You have to understand: We are on your side. We are against Itex!" He looked convinced for a second, but he narrowed his eyes.

"How can I trust you?" The boy looked me dead in the eyes.

My life story. That's all I have to get this guy to trust me.

"When I was younger, my embryo was sent into the School to get avian DNA graphed into it. I grew up in a dog crate until I escaped. My flock and I have been on the run for years." I took a deep breath and looked around at everyone, who was fighting with the attacking flock. "While on the run, we ran into another flock. They took us in… they _trust _us. We have a plan. We want to destroy Itex. But we need your help. Please, just let me and my flock go."

He looked at me. Seconds passed and he finally stood up, still ready for any fight that might come his way.

"Stop!" He yelled. The boy's voice boomed over everything. Every head snapped in his direction and stopped fighting. He backed up and every person that was with him ran behind him. I guess he's the leader.

_Angel, do your thing._ I thought to her.

The leader's face looked surprised at first. Probably from the voice in his head. But then he started to look more calm… more relaxed. After many minutes, he spoke.

"H—how did she do that?" He was looking straight at Angel. If he was afraid of Angel's skill; we were screwed.

"Some of us have… powers." I bit my lip and crossed my arms. I was trying so hard not to bite my nails. The boy nodded and looked understanding.

"Some of us do too. How about we sit down and introduce ourselves?" I nodded and everyone started forming a large (very large) circle. I noticed how the people stayed with their own flock.

The leader of the flock looked around, "Well, I'm Travis. I'm head of the flock. I'm eighteen." He nodded at a girl next to him.

She was gorgeous. I felt so self conscious around her. She was obviously from Asian descent. Her black hair and pale skin went perfectly with each other. "I'm Kiki. I am eighteen also." She nodded off to a small girl with blonde hair.

"I'm Lea Alexis-Martia Hope." She smiled up at everyone around her. "And I am five years old."

Travis looked at everyone's faces, "Tell them your real name." He said.

The little girl sighed, "I'm Lima." Her blue eyes were glistening. Lima looked at a girl next to her. She looked young, but, man, she looked like she could kick your butt. She had dark brown skin and hair. She didn't look like the feminine type.

"I'm Taya. Nine. Whatever." She looked away and glared at Travis. She didn't like pairing up with us so much.

"She sounds _so_ happy to be here." Fang whispered into my ear. I smirked and looked at a boy. He had bright green hair and light brown skin. Even though the skin colors were different shades, he looked a lot like Taya.

"I'm Kris. I'm seventeen and Taya's brother." He gave everyone a bright smile and looked at two boys that were sitting off with each other. They looked _exactly _alike. Both blonde haired and blue eyed… they were like mini-Dylans. But I couldn't think that, because I would automatically hate them if they associated with Dylan.

"I'm Jacob." One said. "I'm Spike. We're twins and thirteen." I nodded and looked around. That was all of them.

Our turn.

"I'm Max. I'm fifteen and one of the flock leaders." I gave a small smile and looked at Fang. Once everyone was done introducing them self, we explained the whole situation for everyone to hear. Their faces were varying from shock to anger. Taya was one of the angered faces.

"We are _not _going." Said Taya. "That's a suicide mission! It could get everyone killed!" She looked at Kris and creased her eyebrows, seeing that he was into the idea of attacking Itex. "Kris… I can't lose you again."

I looked away. She had lost him at one point in time… Just like I had lost Fang. I couldn't possibly do that to her. I wouldn't go through the pain of losing someone you love again. I stood up and it took all of my power to look into her eyes. A mixture of pain and anger flashed in them.

"I know how you feel. I lost someone I love. And I got him back, just like you got Kris back." I took a deep breath. Getting my emotions out was hard. Saying them to an almost complete stranger was even harder. "But if we destroy Itex… we won't have to live in fear any more. You won't have to worry about losing Kris. We can walk free." I sighed and looked back at Fang. He didn't smile, but the look in his eyes made me feel 100% better. "Please… we need your help."

Taya looked at me, and then at Travis. She nodded and sat down next to her brother.

"Where are we heading?" Travis asked.

I looked back at Hawk and gave her a small smile, "Arizona. My friend Hawk… she is hurt. We are going to get her help there. My…" This information could destroy their trust with us completely. "My mother is a vet. She is going to be removing a chip from Hawk and giving x-rays to the rest of my and her flock. I would feel completely safe if you guys got x-rayed too. To see if you are chipped or not…"

Travis looked at me, his expression serious. His long dark brown hair fell in waves around his face. "I know I was chipped. I went nuts and removed it with a pocket knife." He pulled up his pant leg and showed us a long pink line on his calf. "I don't know about the rest of my flock though. It will be up to them to get the medical attention." I looked around at all of them and nodded.

"We need to leave for Arizona now. I'm afraid my friend might not have much time. Then we need to go back to Maryland. We have hawks there… we are going to use them in the battle for Itex. I got Angel to tell them that we will come back for them as soon as possible to get them. They are staying put… for now." I said. I was digging my nails into my leg. The thought of losing Hawk sucked. She and I had to go through the same things. I need a friend like her.

"Don't say that." Iggy said. His brow was creased and he pulled Hawk closer to him. "She had time."

I nodded, "We need to go now."

Travis looked at me, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Can my flock pack a little first?" I shrugged and stretched out my wings. Everyone did the same. I was almost mesmerized by Kiki's white and black specked wings. They were gorgeous.

"Follow them." I said to my flock. Once the other flock had taken off into the sky; I jumped up and started flapping. In minutes, we were at the den that the other flock stayed at. They stayed at an actual _den_. It brought back memories of the house we had in Colorado… The E house. I smiled a little and followed Spike and Jacob through the door. The den was pretty nice. Livable.

Better than the sewers of New York.

Everyone separated into their rooms, leaving my flock and the owl flock out in the living area.

"They have no bad intentions. They really want to help." Angel said. She smiled up at me. I couldn't help it and I bent down and hugged her. She was surprised at first, but then she wrapped her small arms around me.

_You haven't hugged me like that since… _She trailed off. I hadn't hugged her like that since she got kidnapped.

_Don't think about it. _I smiled at her and let go. I needed an Angel hug right now.

In a minute, everyone was out in the living room with their packs ready.

"We're in the middle of a suburb. Where do we take off from?" I looked at the other flock for help.

Lima, the littlest girl, smiled at me, "The neighbors know about us. They just let us be. We can take off from the roof." She smiled at me and walked out of the door. Angel smiled and skipped after her. She intended on making a new friend.

When we took off, the neighbors didn't even give a second glance. I wouldn't mind living here. They treated them like an everyday part of their lives. Travis, Iggy, who was holding Hawk, Josh, Fang, and Kiki flew up next to me. We were all in one huge line.

"You lead the way." Travis and Hawk yelled. I nodded and smiled.

"Hawk, get some rest. We should be there in about a day and a half. Don't try to do much damage, okay?" I looked at her, concern flooding through my veins. She looked bad. Really bad.

Her tan skin was looking pale and clammy. Her brilliant sapphire eyes looked grey. Her lips weren't pink anymore. Her hair looked flat and lifeless, usually it had nice body to it.

"Hold in there." I swooped down and gave her hand a squeeze. "Iggy, when you get tired, hand her over to Josh or Fang." He nodded as I flew to the front of the mass of people. There were _seventeen people_ traveling with us now. At first, it was just my flock. We gained eleven people.

Wow. That's pretty good.

**Fang's Blog**

You are visiting Fang's blog. Welcome!

You are Visitor#: The Thing is still broken…

Yo,

We are with another flock. It's now my original flock, the owl flock, and this new flock now. Just so you're not confused while I'm talking, their names are Travis, Kiki, Kris, Taya, Spike, Jacob, and Lima. Travis is the leader.

We are all on our way to see Dr. Martinez! A little surprise visit to her. Max has been dying to see her mom, so she is extremely excited. But that's not why I'm here to talk to you.

I'm here, because I need to build an army… again. Everyone, make those groups. Pick a day to get everyone to attack. We need your help. Max won't ever admit it, but we do need it. Do the best you can. This is it! This is our world saving chance! Itex wants us out of the way, and we need to stop them! This is our time now! We can start a revolution! This will go down in history.

We are the key.

I'll answer a few of the questions I got recently.

From OhMiBabiiCakes

_Fang, dump Max for me! I LOVE YOU! Here, I'll send you a pic to show you wat yur missing out on! picture deleted Don't you see how sexi I am? Here's my number if you want to call me number deleted I'll be waiting 333_

To OhMiBabiiCakes

… _Wow._

From BuddhaKicksAss

_Yo, I got your back. Man, we can kill these damn whitecoats! They took innocent babies and experimented on them! Took their lives away. I'm definitely fighting! Give me a time and place!_

To BuddhaKicksAss

_Cool, man. There should be links on the blog with self defense clubs and things that people are doing to fight against Itex. Click on the link at any time. _

From The_Ghosts

_Man! My name is Rafael. Im part of the Ghosts. The gang that helped you when you split from the females. Im here to tell you that we are in on the fight too! We'll def help._

To The_Ghosts

_Hey! It's good to hear from you guys again. Thanks for everything. _

Well, I'm beat. I have a long day ahead of me.

-Fang out


	22. Without Feeling Guilty

Quote #6: _Boycott sham-poo. Demand the REAL poo._

**Max POV**

After a couple hours of flying, we ended up in Kentucky. We landed in a corn field out in the middle of nowhere. The other flock still didn't trust us enough entirely, and we didn't trust them a lot either. When everyone was going to bed, someone from my flock was on watch and someone from the other flock was on watch. Travis and I had the first watch. Once I got everyone in my flock asleep, I went on full alert.

I couldn't think about the problems going on in my life at that moment; like Hawk's chip or the fact that we had another flock to find. I couldn't start small-talk with Travis. I had to listen to everything. I had to watch everything. Every slightest movement, every small sound, I knew about it. Staying on guard meant noticing everything around you.

I stretched out my wings and leaned back on a couple of corn stalks. Nothing was moving in hearing distance, so I closed my eyes for a second.

"You know," Travis' voice broke through the silence, "sleeping on the job is bad." I opened my eyes and looked at him. His green eyes were practically glowing in the darkness.

"I wasn't sleeping. I was resting my eyes. And we shouldn't be talking. Someone could be watching us and we wouldn't even know because we were babbling away." I stood up and looked around, checking to see if any people were near-by. The coast was clear.

The breath coming out of our mouths was starting to look like steam. It was probably late fall right now. I'd ask my mom when we got to Arizona. The hairs on my arms were starting to stand up from the cold. Goosebumps covered my skin from head to toe. I did my best not to shiver and sound like a cold little girl. I have been to Antarctica! I shouldn't be _cold._ This is simple Kentucky fall weather.

After an hour of me shivering and trying to keep watch, Nudge and Janie told me they were on the next shift. Jacob, one of the twins, was on the other flock's watch. Trying to keep warm, I snuggled up next to Fang and wrapped my arms around him. At my touch, he woke up. His dark eyes looked at me, ready for anything to come at him. Seeing that I was just settling in, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his warm embrace. I relaxed my muscles and enjoyed his body heat. After minutes, I fell asleep, hoping it would be a calm night.

But a dream was going to ruin that wish.

"_Maximum Ride." Said Dylan. We were in the middle of the corn field. Alone. The flock was gone. I had to take deep breaths and remind myself that it was just a dream. Dylan couldn't have done anything to them. We were alone in the other dream I had too. It's just the fact that he is talking to only _me.

"_What the hell do you want from me and why do you keep on appearing in my dreams?" I narrowed my eyes at him. My hatred for him was growing. Rapidly. _

_He started walking and stopped, inches away from me. "I am perfect for you, Max." He whispered in my ear._

_I pushed him away, a scowl on my face, "Bullshit. You disgust me. Things that revolt people don't go well with them. I'm just saying." I backed away from him. He was way too close for comfort. "Just tell me what you are doing in my dreams and _how _you are getting into them." I crossed my arms and stared him down. I wasn't willing to share head space with more people. I already had me and the Voice. Dylan wasn't a welcome visitor. _

"_It doesn't matter how I'm here. I'm just telling you that you can change it all. We can fight together. You can just get rid of the flock and you can stay with me. We will be praised by the stupid whitecoats for capturing all of the flocks! We can be together." What a nutjob. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing in his face. _

_I shook my head, "There are a million reasons why I wouldn't do that! I hate you, I love my flock, I am loyal to the other flocks, I hate Itex, I love _Fang_. I can keep going on all day. Dylan, I won't ever ditch my flock. Do you hear me?" I was glaring at him, fuming. He was psychotic if he thought that his little scenario was reasonable! I wouldn't ever dare turn my back on my flock again. The last time they kicked me out and I left, it ended in disaster. _

"_Get out of my head. Now." I tapped my foot and looked away from it. Oops, I mean him. _

"_As you wish, Max. You made the wrong choice. I'm coming after you… You and your friends better watch it." And then everything went black. _

I woke up and tried not to jolt. Waking up Fang would set off alarms for everyone. I tried falling back asleep, but it was nearly impossible. I was awake, and I had a new message from Dylan: Watch out. I knew falling asleep was out of the question, so instead, I kept close to Fang and enjoyed his warmth.

Maybe I could get a few more hours of this.

**Jeb Batchelder POV**

I looked at the giant TV that was mounted on the wall in front of me. On it was a map of the world. Two red dots were on the map. There should have been four, but there were only two. One of the dots was in Kentucky. It belonged to Experiment 01996. The leader of her flock. The other dot was in the lower part of Italy. Experiment 02198. The leader of his flock. There were supposed to be two more dots on that screen. One for Experiment 01256. Leader of his flock. And another dot for Experiment 01990. Also known as Maximum Ride. Leader of her flock.

I know that Max had her chip removed, but Experiment 01256 was a mystery. I was there when they were putting the chip into his calf. It was well hidden. How could he have known about the chip? How could he have gotten it out? Or maybe he was dead. I would have to find out soon. The next time Dylan got back to the main Itex Cor, I would have to ask him if he knew anything about the experiment's mystery.

I got up from the main lab, a giant room swarming with my fellow scientists… if that's what you're willing to call them. I walked out of the lab with many waves from the scientists. I walked down a series of hallways and finally ended up at a large metal door. I pulled out my ID card and swiped it in the key lock. The door opened and closed behind me. Inside of the room was my lab materials laid out. A metal table sat in the center of the lab. I walked across the room to another door. I swiped the ID card in the other door's key lock and it swung open before me. I looked ahead and put on a brilliant smile. I had to make the people in here think I was friendly.

Dog cages were bunched up in the room. Inside of them were my experiments. Itex was on the idea that robots were the greatest step scientists could take, but I still think that humans were the best things earth had to offer. Because I had been with Itex for so long, I got special permission to keep on experimenting with humans. But Itex was getting afraid of the human hybrid experiments. They thought the hybrids were going to attack and destroy Itex. For good. That means I had to get rid of the human hybrids I was experimenting on.

I sighed and pulled a syringe out of my lab coat. Then I pulled out a small vile of red liquid. It was the venom taken from a _Nepenthes rafflesiana,_ a deadly plant found in Asia. I stuck the syringe's needle into the vile and sucked the venom out of it. The syringe was fully loaded. I had five experiments in the crates. The amount of venom in my needle could kill ten adult elephants. It could most definitely kill five children.

I walked up to one of the crates and smiled at the girl that was inside of it. She was a human-avian hybrid, just like Max. She was the same age as Max too. _No guilt, Jeb. Don't feel any guilt._ I thought.

"Hi, sweetie. Can I see your arm please? It won't hurt a bit." I gave her a big smile as she raised her eyebrows at me. My smile faltered as she rolled her brown eyes and laughed at me.

"As if. You have to get a new job, big boy. Not many women go after the creepy scientist type." She pushed against the back of the crate, as if that would help her get out.

"Just give me your arm. I can do this by force." She looked me in the eyes and then groaned. She reminded me so much of Maximum. She was probably starving and dehydrated, but she stayed strong for the people in the room.

"What can it do to us?" The experiment asked with precaution.

"Nothing horrible. I promise." _It's not horrible because it gets them out of this hell._ I tried to reassure myself. The experiment looked at me for a little bit, and then nodded. She held out her arm and winced as the needle penetrated her arm. I injected some of the liquid and pulled out the needle. Immediately, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back in the crate. She was dead practically before I pulled the syringe out.

Getting the others to take the shot was going to have to be by force, because they saw what the liquid did to their friend. In the end, I needed a bunch of other scientists to hold down the experiments and let me inject the venom in them. When it was all over, I threw out the syringe and walked away.

Maybe the guilt for killing these kids today would be drowned out for the worry about Experiment 01256's chip mystery.


	23. Well, Hi Mom

Quote #7: _Fall in love or fall in hate. Get inspired or be depressed. Ace a test or flunk a class. Make babies or make art. Speak the truth or lie and cheat. Dance on tables or sit in a corner. Life is divine chaos. Embrace it. Forgive yourself. And enjoy the ride. _Come on people I need more quotes! I'm running out here!

**Max POV**

After a few hours of lying close to Fang, the sun started to rise. I rolled over and got up quietly, trying not to wake anyone. Kiki and Josh were on watch. When I stood up, I nodded at them and looked at the campfire that was made last night. The fire was out and all that was left were burning embers. The fire was made out of the cornstalks around us, so I took out my pocket knife and started hacking away at more of the stalks. A few minutes later, I had a good amount of cornstalks to start a fire and keep it going. I bunched them all together and pulled out a lighter that Jeb had given me. Within moments, the fire was high and crackling with life.

I sighed and sat down by the fire, warming up my hands and feet. The weather here was starting to get colder and colder by the moment. Josh and Kiki were still on watch, so I was able to relax.

Psh. Like I can _ever _relax.

A blood curling scream broke through the early morning silence. Everyone was woken up in an instance. I turned away from the fire to check who the scream came from. It was Hawk. I shot up and ran to her side. She was curled up in a ball, gripping onto her stomach.

"Hawk!" Xavier screamed from behind me. He ran over to her side, brushing his sister's hair out of her eyes.

"What's going on?" Travis came up beside me and looked at Hawk. "She doesn't look so good." He said, stating the obvious. And she didn't. Hawk was completely pale. Her breaths came in as short wheezes. I knelt down beside her and lifted up the front of her shirt, looking at her stomach. Around the chip were blood clots and bruises. What the hell was this thing doing to her?

"Iggy, pick her up. _CAREFULLY and GENTELLY._" I stressed the words as much as I could. Iggy nodded and lifted her up. Xavier stood up and looked at me, his blue eyes wide and watering.

"Are you going to fix my sister?" He asked, barely above a whisper. I nodded and stood up.

"I'm taking her to my mom, and I would trust her with my life." He nodded and I snapped open my wings. We were going to see my mom, Dr. Valencia Martinez. Everyone opened their wings too, and thankfully, Travis's flock did without protest. We took off within seconds, not even bothering to put out the campfire. The flight took only about an hour, but with Hawk's occasional moans made it feel like a millennia. The second I spotted my mom's house in Arizona, I angled down and started the quick descent. I landed at the same time Iggy did, Hawk still lying still in his arms. I grabbed Iggy's belt loop and started walking to the front door, guiding him the way.

I ran up the steps to the porch and knocked on her door. Then it hit me. What if no one was home? I never tried to contact my mom and tell her I was coming. I silently prayed for my mom to come answer the door. A few seconds later, the knob to the door twisted and flew open. Ella, my half sister, was standing in the doorway. When she saw me, a smile appeared on her face.

"Max!" She squealed. Ella flew at me and pulled me into a hug. I only hugged her for a second before I backed away and looked her in the eyes.

"Where's mom?" I had a serious look on my face, and when she looked at Hawk, she knew why. She didn't know Hawk, but she was quick to notice that she wasn't feeling well.

"Mom!" Ella yelled back into the house. She ran back in, and I followed her. I told Iggy to set Hawk down on the couch and wait with her. I looked around for Ella and saw her walking down a hallway. I ran down the hallway and walked into the room Ella walked in. My mom was sitting at a desk, glasses perched at the end of her nose. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Dear Lord, it's you! How's the rest of the flock? Are they with you?" My mom smiled and hopped up from her seat. She pulled me into a hug and I didn't turn this one down. My mom's hugs were addictive. I (Sadly) pulled out of the hug and looked at my mom.

"They are fine. And, yeah, they're here. But my friend needs help. She has a chip in her stomach and it's doing something weird to her. We need you to remove the chip." My mom's face immediately went serious and I guided her out of the room to Hawk, who was in the fetal position on the couch. My mom knelt down next to the couch and looked Hawk in the eye.

"Hunny, what's your name?" Hawk looked up at her and croaked out her name. She sounded horrible. Worse than before. "I'm going to take you to my work building. It's a Saturday so no one should be there. I'm going to give you a full autopsy there." Hawk barely nodded and Iggy lifted her up off of the couch. My mom ran into the kitchen and grabbed her purse and keys. She walked out of the front door and Iggy followed. I looked around at everyone.

"Josh and Xavier, you're both coming with us. Travis, can you be in charge? Just make sure Gazzy doesn't blow anything up." Travis nodded at the 'being in charge' part, but when I said 'make sure Gazzy doesn't blow anything up' part, he wore a mask of confusion. I gathered together Josh and Xavier and got them to the front door. "Just hang out here! Don't. Go. Flying. Food's in the fridge!" I yelled as we walked out the door. Josh and Xavier ran into the car and sat in the back seat. Hawk was on Iggy's lap, and Xavier grabbed her hand and started squeezing it. He needed to be with his sister. I ran around the car and sat in the passenger seat. The second I closed my door, the car was speeding down the driveway toward the vet hospital.

Time flashed by and we were in the vet in no time. It was all a blur to me though. I remember running into the building after my mom unlocked the doors. I remember watching Iggy lay hawk down on a metal bed that was made for dogs. So Hawk's legs dangled off of it. And I remember prying Iggy out of the surgery room. My mom did the full autopsy, or whatever they called it, and she decided that Hawk was going into surgery that moment. She doped her up and Hawk was unconscious in seconds.

"Xavier, you need to leave the room. Come sit out here with me, Iggy, and Josh." I looked at the little boy, who had tears in his eyes. He nodded and grabbed my hand. We walked out of the room and into the waiting room. Xavier sat in Josh's lap and burrowed his head into Josh's neck. I walked over and sat next to Iggy. You could tell he was trying not to cry.

"It's going to be okay." I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I promise." He turned his head toward me. He was looking right in between my eyes. Pretty good for a blind kid.

"When she screamed this morning, I thought she was going to die. I—I didn't know what to do." He leaned his head on my shoulder. I patted his head with my free hand and leaned my head on his. I always felt protective over Iggy. I remember when we found his parents and he left us to be with them. It ripped my heart out. I love Iggy. He's my brother. And seeing him so broken and hurt over a girl he just met a few weeks ago, showed me that he actually _loved _her.

"I know how you feel." I said, regarding to when Fang left. Iggy sighed and closed his unseeing eyes.

Now it's time to wait and see how Hawk turns out.

**Fang POV**

I was sitting on the couch, watching TV with Travis and Kiki. I had discovered that Travis and Kiki were boyfriend and girlfriend. The excessive making out proved that to me. At least Max and I went into another room! When I couldn't hear the TV over the smacking of Total Stranger 1 That Max Trusted and Total Stranger 2 That Max Trusted, I got up and walked into the kitchen. The twins, Spike and Jacob, were sitting at the table. They were shoving Mexican food that Dr. Martinez made down their throats. Kris walked into the room with Nudge trailing behind him. She was practically drooling over him.

Kris sat down and Nudge quickly followed. Nudge was only twelve, and Kris was seventeen. Let's see how _that _would work. But I noticed something; no one was talking. Not even the blabbermouth Nudge. We just sat there in silence. I got up and walked to the guest room. Maybe I can be alone and think there. Gazzy and Angel were lying on one of the beds that were set up. Angel was curled up in her older brother's arms. Both of them were sleeping quietly. After waking up suddenly this morning and flying before they were fully awake, they must be beat. I backed out of the room and walked down the hallway.

I passed Ella's room. She, Lima, and Taya were sitting on the floor. I think they were talking about some teen superstar. None of the three girls seemed afraid for Hawk though. It's probably because they didn't know her that well. Lima did seem shaken up from the scream though. I continued walking and passed the bathroom. I heard sniffles coming from in there and stopped moving. Someone was in there crying.

I mentally went through the people who were at the house in my head. Dr. Martinez, Max, Josh, Xavier and Iggy were with Hawk. Travis and Kiki were in the living room. Spike, Jacob, Kris, and Nudge were in the kitchen. Angel and the Gasman were sleeping. Ella, Taya, and Lima were in Ella's room. The only person left in the house was Janie.

I opened the bathroom door and looked in. Janie was sitting on the ground, tissues surrounding her, weeping. I couldn't leave her there, so I sat down next to her and leaned back on the bath tub. She looked at me and then took a deep breath.

"Sorry you have to see my like this. I've never seen Hawk like that before." She sighed and wiped her eyes with another tissue. "Max's mom seemed nice though. She didn't ask any questions, she just took Hawk into her arms and took care of her." I nodded and she leaned back too. "I wish Josh was here. No offence or anything. It's just that he knows how to make a person feel better no matter what." She smiled to herself and picked at her fingernails.

"I know a person like that." Max's face popped into my head. Max was the girl who could make you feel like a scared little girl on the inside, or she can make you feel like you can rule the world.

I put my hand on Janie's back and rubbed in between her wings, trying to make her feel better. I know I only did that to Max, but I felt bad for Janie. The leader of her flock, her best friend, had her life on a limb. Janie must be dying inside. We sat there for a while like that. Janie crying and me rubbing her back on the bathroom floor. When the phone rang, I was about to get up when I heard Ella yell "I got it!" I leaned back and looked at Janie.

"Let's go find out whose calling." She sniffed. I nodded and stood up. I walked out of the bathroom and looked at Ella, who was walking toward me. She handed me the phone.

"It's for you. It's Max." I put the phone up to my ear the moment she said Max.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Fang!" Max yelled. "Hawk is fine. She is still unconscious though. The chip is out. It caused a lot of damage to her stomach though. It was in a small space behind her stomach, but my mom said that stress caused it to rip through her stomach. It caused a lot of bleeding and my mom said she was amazed that Hawk even survived." Max stopped talking. I could hear the soft voices in the back from side conversations everyone else was having. "It was so bad that Hawk is probably going to be weak for a week. That's in bird kid healing days. My mom said this would take months for a normal person to get passed this." Seconds ticked by. "How is it at home?"

"Everyone is fine. Janie was crying, but she is better now. Everyone is quiet though. I think they are going to feel better once they see Hawk." My mind flicked to Xavier. For some reason, I felt really protective over him. "How's Xavier holding up?"

"He was really scared at first, but he is doing better now that Hawk is out of surgery." She stopped talking again. You could hear the smile in her voice. "He is a strong little sucker." I heard someone talking to Max in the back. "Fang, I have to go. Hawk just woke up. We'll be back in a little bit. Give everyone my love. Bye" She hung up. I handed the phone back to Ella.

"Get everyone into the living room. We'll talk there." Ella nodded and walked back into her room to get Lima and Taya. I walked into the guest room and sat down on the edge of the bed that Gazzy and Angel were sleeping on. I touched their sides and they woke up instantly. "I want to talk to everyone. Can you come in the living room?" They both nodded and I got up and walked out of the room, they both followed me.

Once I reached the living room, everyone was bunched together, staring at me. I explained the situation with Hawk to them. Then I explained that we would be here for a week. No one seemed to be mad at that fact.

Dr. Martinez had a nice house. There was always nonstop food. There was enough beds and couches for people to sleep on. There were woods nearby, so you could fly freely.

I nodded at everyone and walked away to the guest room. I really needed to write in the blog to get things off of my mind.

**Fang's Blog**

You are visiting Fang's blog. Welcome!

You are Visitor #: 8,345,001 (I GOT IT TO WORK AGAIN!)

Yo,

Hawk is hurt, really bad. We are staying somewhere safe. I can't tell you where we are, sorry. Everyone is settled in fine, though. And did I mention we have a new flock with us? They aren't that bad so far. They mostly keep their distance.

I've been thinking about it, and I want to destroy Itex now more than ever. If we never had this DNA grafted into us, we wouldn't be going through this hell. I wouldn't have to make my loved ones stop crying because they don't want their friend to die from the _microchip _that's inside of them. I wouldn't have to worry about being killed twenty-four-seven. I wouldn't be sleeping on damn cornstalks for God's sakes! But _some _good has come out of this. I got my family through this. I got Max. And, I wouldn't be able to fly. But _still…_

I saw Angel and Gazzy curled up in balls, sleeping, today. They looked beat. When they are fighting, they are small death machines. But I noticed that when they are asleep, they look so fragile and young that it looked like if you touched them they would break. The both of them are just so dang cute. Both of them would be living normal childhood lives instead of this one if it weren't for Itex.

I've seen that you have been starting fight clubs and stuff. Good job. I really do appreciate all of the stuff you all have been doing. Keep up the good work.

I'm not going to answer any more questions you guys have asked today though. I've just been so stressed out about Hawk and the new flock we joined forces with. I'll write more later on.

-Fang


	24. Is This The End?

Quote #7: _If everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, we'd see a day where nobody died. _Okay, I'm going on vacation in a few days, so this might be the last time I update for a week or two. I'll make this last chapter worth it!

**Jeb POV**

"Where is Experiment 01996?" I hissed at my colleagues. Last night, on the electronic map of the world, there were two red dots. There was one in Kentucky and one in Italy. But when I woke up this morning and went to check on the map, only one dot was there.

"There is no possible way the chip could have malfunctioned." A random scientist tried to calm me. Like that would possibly calm me! "The chip was working up until about three in the morning. The last location the experiment was recorded in was Arizona." My eyes widened. If Max partnered up with Experiment 01996, she could have gotten Valencia to remove the chip. I rubbed my temples and sighed.

"Contact Dylan and tell him to come back here. Get a whole horde of Erasers ready." I sighed, wishing I wouldn't have to do this to Max. But I would lose my job if I let her get away. "The flocks are going to be retired soon."

I started walking away, but the girl I was barking orders at had questions. She was seriously getting on my nerves.

"How come we have to destroy the human-avian hybrid, but not the human-lupine hybrid?" She forced her bright green eyes to look anywhere but my face.

"Because we only have a small batch of Erasers and they are going to die off at a young age anyway. We are permitted to use them as weapons while they last, but we are not allowed to make anymore batches of our little furry friends." I turned away again, signaling I was done talking to her. "Make sure to get Dylan here as fast as possible!"

**Max POV**

"Max, we are ordering pizza! What do you want for a topping?" Gazzy yelled from the kitchen. I looked at the clock. It was about ten o'clock at night. Pizza places were still open this late, right? I turned the volume on the living room TV down and shrugged.

"I guess pepperoni, sausage, and extra cheese is all." Gazzy nodded and said my order into the telephone. When Gazzy was done ordering, he had spent $132.92 and had ordered twenty five extra-large pizzas. That was for everyone in the house. I hope we have enough.

I looked over at Fang, who walked into the living room and sat on the couch next to me. "Angel went Obi One Kenobi on me." I raised my eyebrow at the Starwars reference. "She used her little mind control powers to force me to clean up the mess she and Lima made." He had a serious look on his face, and I wish I had one on mine, but it took all of my power not to laugh. I hated the fact that Angel used her powers against Fang, but it was funny to see how pissed he was. I smiled and patted his arm.

"I'll take care of it." I craned my neck and looked down the hallway, not shifting my position on the couch. "Later, though. I feel too lazy. Did you check up on Hawk?" Fang nodded and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"She said she doesn't want me checking up on her anymore. Apparently, the second she got food in her system after the surgery, she was fine. I think she's going to be okay." He smirked and leaned his head on mine.

It was two days after we showed up at my mom's house and Hawk had her surgery. I'd been keeping a close eye on her since the surgery, but she is as tough as a nail. Maybe tougher. Everyone loved it at my mom's house. My mom had comfortable furniture, she isn't strict, and she makes the best chocolate chip cookies _ever._

Fang and I sat there for a while, just enjoying each other. We didn't kiss, because Gazzy, who was waiting for the pizza impatiently in the kitchen, would surely freak out. That didn't seem to stop Kiki and Travis, though. They were on the love seat next to Fang and I. Emphasize on the _love_.

"WHERE IS MY PIZZA?" Gazzy yelled, just as the doorbell rang. "Oh. I'll get it." He ran from the kitchen to the front door. Before Gazzy could answer it, Fang was up from the couch and next to him.

"Last time we ordered a pizza, it exploded. I'll get it." Fang opened the door and raised his eyebrows. I got up and stood next to Fang. I was surprised to see a nerd and not, say, a blood thirsty scientist. The person in front of me was an actual _nerd,_ though. He had giant glasses, he didn't have any muscle at all, and he had a face full of acne.

"Can I have help getting the pizzas out of the car?" He asked in a high, prepubescent voice. "There are about thirty and it will take a while to get them into the house." I looked up at Fang and shrugged.

"Sure. Travis, Josh, Iggy, and Kris! Get your butts out here and help bring in the pizzas!" All four guys rushed out the front door and Fang and I followed. It wasn't until I noticed the stench that I knew something was wrong. "What the hell is—" My eyes widened. I looked back at the house and saw the front door slam shut. Through a window, I saw Erasers crashing in through the backdoor. I spun around to warn everyone of our guests, but they already noticed. Probably because we had about fifty Erasers surrounding us. Woopie.

I looked at the nerdy pizza boy, who was staring wide eyed at the Erasers. "W—what are th—they?" He was shaking uncontrollably. I looked over at Fang, who nodded. We had to protect him. He may have been a stranger, but we weren't going to let this guy get killed because of us.

All six of us made a back-to-back circle, the pizza boy protected in the middle. The Erasers didn't hesitate; they came at us with full force. Three Erasers confronted me; I snapped out my wings and jumped up into the air. I kicked one in the snout so hard that he flew back a few yards. The other two tried to grab my feet, but I just kicked them away. I landed on ones back and grabbed its head in both of my hands. If I was going to protect my family, I had to be ready to kill. I snapped his neck and jumped back into the air. I did the same thing to about ten other Erasers. I just flew onto one's back and snapped their neck. When I looked back at everyone else, I saw that they were putting up a good fight. Only about ten Erasers were left. I ran over to the nerd, who was curled up in a ball on the ground. I patted his shoulder and he looked up at me, shock covering his face. It was probably from the wings that were attached to my back.

"Get up." I ordered him in my no-nonsense voice. He nodded and stood up. An Eraser came at us and I pushed him behind me, expecting him to cower again. Nope. That's not what he did _at all._ Instead he grabbed me from behind and pinned my arms behind my back, leaving an opening for the Eraser.

"Get back, you foul mutt." He said. The Eraser nodded and walked away. What the hell just happened? That isn't possible! Erasers don't listen to anyone!

"Hey, Max." Dylan's voice rang in my ear. Instead of the nerdy pizza boy's flimsy arms, Dylan's strong arms were holding me back. How did he…? Oh my gosh. He is a shape shifter! Of course he would try to trick me by shifting into someone not hot.

"You are a fucking shit! Let go of my family! Let go of me!" I cursed more at him, but he just laughed.

"No can do, Max. You see, I could have let you go, only if you agreed to be on my side and not your stupid flock's. But you chose the wrong team." Dylan chuckled and, get this, kissed my neck. Oh, hell no. I kicked back and felt my foot connect with his knee. He let go of me slightly, but slightly was enough. I ripped myself out of his arms and turned around to smack him. My hand connected with his cheek and he just stared at me.

I punched him again and at the top of my lungs, yelled, "I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU EVER FUCKING TOUCH ME AGAIN I'LL KILL YOU." Everyone stopped fighting and turned around to look at me, even the Erasers. When Fang saw Dylan on the ground, he snapped the neck of the Eraser he was fighting and ran over to me. His dark eyes were shooting daggers at Dylan. I wasn't being serious about killing Dylan, but Fang probably was.

"Get. Out. Of. Here." Fang pushed Dylan back, sending him stumbling to the ground. Dylan's face twisted with anger. He grabbed a knife from his pocket and flew up, aiming for Fang's neck.

"No!" I screamed. I had watched Fang die once, no way was I going to watch it again. Without thinking twice, I jumped in front of Fang. Dylan tried to avoid stabbing me, but it was too late. The knife plunged into my stomach. I felt a red hot pain, but then everything went numb. My eyes fluttered closed and I crumpled to the ground.

I heard Fang shouting in the back. Everyone was screaming.

"Max," Fang lifted me into his lap, telling me sweet nothings. "You can't die. Everyone else will die without you. Please, I—I can't afford to lose you. I love you." I felt his tears drip onto my face. He was crying? Why?

I couldn't feel anything on my body. I couldn't move anything. I felt my heartbeat getting slower and slower. It felt almost impossible to breath. Chaos was surrounding me. But for some reason I felt… peaceful?

No. I can't die. I tried to open my eyes, and felt so defeated when I couldn't. That was when I felt Fang's lips on mine. Kissing Fang when I was on deaths door was surreal.

I think the kiss is what helped me fall asleep in peace.

Okay! So, I'm going on vacation for a week and there will be no wifi, so there is not going to be an update for a week and a half. ): Sorry! Fly on. 


	25. I Guess You're Feeling Better

Quote #8: _Embrace the dork in you, life is too short. _Thanks missmary312!

**Fang POV**

The second I saw Max jump in front of me, I knew it was too late. I couldn't push her away or use myself as a shield for her. I heard _oof!_ when the knife was plunged into her stomach. I looked down and saw the tip of the dagger poking out of Max's back. The second the knife entered Max's body, it was gone. Dylan looked at me, horrified. It's almost like he cared about Max.

"This is your fault!" He screamed at me as Max fell into my arms. My knees buckled from under me, not because of Max falling into my arms, but because I saw the wound. Blood was pouring out of her stomach. "If you and Max weren't in love, she wouldn't have cared about this stupid flock and she would be working with me! She would be alive!"

I nestled my head into the crook between Max's neck and shoulder. I was whispering something, but it was all a blur. I have no idea what I was saying. I felt hot tears pouring down my cheeks. Out in the distance I heard someone saying Max's name over and over, I soon realized it was me who was saying it.

"Max," I lifted her into a sitting position on my lap. More blood started pouring out of her stomach so I lay her back down. "You can't die. Everyone else will die without you. Please, I—I can't afford to lose you. I love you." I bent down and kissed her. I don't know why I did. Maybe I was hoping for some Sleeping Beauty miracle or something? Or maybe I was in the moment? I have no idea. I just needed to kiss her. To get one last kiss before she—no. Max isn't going to die.

"This is your fault!" Dylan screamed at me again. I laid Max's head down on the grass and stood up to Dylan.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Dylan looked surprised that I cursed at him like that. I've never said the "F" word before in my life, and it caught Dylan by surprise. He paused for a split second. I ran over and punched him. "Get your little dogs and yourself out of here." I grabbed the collar of his shirt and glared at him. "Now."

Dylan just stared at me. We stood in that position for moments; me holding him by his shirt collar and him just staring at me, our faces inches from each others.

"Fang," Said Travis, breaking me out of my Little Moment of Hatred. "We need to get Max to her mother. Dr. Martinez can save her." I let Dylan go and he snapped out his wings and jumped into the sky. I bent down and picked Max up. I looked around and saw the damage.

Iggy had a bloody nose, Kris's arm was twisted at an odd angle, Travis had a black eye, Josh had scratches and bruises but seemed fine. I didn't care if I was fine or not. I really didn't notice I was hurt either. I ran to the front door and stopped in the doorway.

It looked like a tornado suddenly ripped through the Martinez house. Shards of glass were spread out on the floor. It reeked of Eraser. A bunch of unconscious or dead Erasers were on the floor. But no one from the flocks. I ran into the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. I kicked open the door to the guest bedroom and was relieved to see everyone sitting on the beds. Dr. Martinez looked horrified.

"Fang! We meant to come outside and help you guys, but Dr. Martinez wouldn't—Oh my God… MAX?" Nudge went frantic as I laid Max down on the twin size bed.

Dr. Martinez pushed everyone away and looked at Max's wound. Her face fell and she felt Max's neck for a pulse. She sighed in relief and a weight felt like it was lifted off of my shoulders. At least she was alive. For now.

"I have to get her to a hospital. Fang. Hawk. Travis. Fly everyone somewhere safe. Someone will have to carry Ella, but—" Dr. Martinez was cut off.

"We aren't going anywhere. We will be in the woods out back." Gazzy said. Dr. Martinez shot him a look, but Gazzy shrugged it off. Slowly, everyone started agreeing with him.

"I'm going with you." I said to Dr. Martinez. "Don't even try to fight me on it. I'm going. It's final. Hawk, Travis, and everyone else over the age of sixteen, take the little kids to the woods next to the house. Hide in trees. Don't go flying. Just lay low." With that said, I picked Max up off of the bed and was happy to hear her groan in pain. Well, I wasn't happy to hear her in pain, but at least it was some small sign that she was alive.

The ride to the hospital felt like forever. I sat in the back with Max's head in my lap. I smoothed out her hair and was silently praying. I'm not much of a God believer, but I felt that I needed someone's help. I kissed Max's cheek as we pulled into the lot of the emergency room.

I cradled Max in my arms and jumped out of the car. I ran into the emergency room, not even bothering to wait for Dr. Martinez, and screamed for help. Nurses came rushing towards me and tried to take Max out of my arms. I struggled against them but finally gave in. I had to let them take her if they were going to help her.

Reluctantly, I let the doctors take her and lay her out on a gurney. It was after watching Max being rolled through the OR room of the emergency room that the smell hit me like a slap in the face. The antiseptic smell practically strangled me and I backed away and sat down in a seat in the waiting room, covering my nose and mouth with my hands. Dr. Martinez was up at the front desk, talking to a nurse and filling out papers.

After a few hours, I was practically gagging on the scent, but even that couldn't stop me from thinking about Max. Was she okay? What would they think about the wings? What if some of those doctors were Erasers? No. Fang, calm down. You can't be thinking like this.

A doctor came into the waiting room and looked at me, "Are you Nick Ride?" I looked up at him. He seemed like an average guy, not an Eraser. He looked—hey, wait, I never told anyone my name.

"How do you know my name?" I looked up at him; not letting my face dare show any emotion.

"Your girlfriend's mother, Mrs. Martinez, told me. I'm here to tell you about Max's condition." I looked away from his face. The doctor looked like he had seen a ghost, or maybe worse. Wings. "She has suffered some internal bleeding from the stab. She also lost a significant amount of blood. The problem is… she is different than most people. Are you like her?" I nodded, still not looking at him. "Then we are going to need you to give her blood immediately. You should have similar DNA, and she needs blood."

I stood up and the doctor gave a small, grim smile. "This way." He led me into a room and I made sure to make an escape route out of here in my mind, just in case. It was the room that Max was in. She has cords hooded up to her and a tube down her throat. I forced myself to look away and sat down in the chair he gave me.

I was nervous about the blood being taken from me. I haven't had very good experiences with needles before. But I would do anything for Max. When he was done taking my blood, I felt dizzy. Nurses tried to redirect me out of the room, but I refused. I stayed at Max's bedside for hours. After a few minutes, a nurse came in to remove the tube in her throat.

"She is healing miraculously fast. She is breathing on her own again." The nurse said. She tried to get a look at Max's wings, but I glared at her and she left quietly.

Max's hand was in mine the whole entire time. It pained me to see so many wires attached to her.

I lifted up her hand and kissed it. The heart monitor started beating faster and when I lowered her hand from my mouth, it returned to normal. I lifted it back up and kissed it again. The monitor beeped faster and when I put it back down it returned to normal again. Well, not the normal heart beat humans would have, but normal for a human-avian hybrid. There's a lot of normal in that mix!

I smiled at the fact that her heart fluttered at my kisses. I stood up and kissed her on the mouth this time and the monitor went out of control. I was about to end the kiss when a hand pressed me closer to her. I realized it was Max's hand. Her other hand came up and rested on the back of my neck. Her mouth opened and mine did too. Max pulled me onto the bed and I cradled her head in my hand. I pulled out of the kiss and looked into her brown eyes.

"I take it you're feeling better?" I tried to keep my voice from cracking in joy. She smiled and pulled me down into another kiss. I loved the feel of her lips against mine. It's amazing how close I came to never feeling them on mine again. I rolled over so that I wasn't on top of her anymore and that I was laying next to her. Max rolled on top of me and I pulled her closer and we were in another kiss.

It wasn't until we heard someone clear their throat that we both stopped kissing and Max jumped off of me immediately. I sat up and wiped the emotions clear off of my face. At least tried to. My face was flushed like nobody's business.

"Well," Dr. Martinez said, looking back at the doctors and nurses that stood behind her. "I take it you are feeling better."

**Max POV**

I was in a daze. I seriously though I was dead. I heard a faint beeping in the background and thought, _If that beeps the whole entire time I'm dead, I will go mad. _But then I felt someone's hand squeezing mine. I felt the rough skin and calluses and immediately knew it was Fang. He lifted my hand and kissed it. My heart fluttered. I was horrified when I heard my heart beat go faster on the monitor. Fang must have heard the change of my heart pace, too, because he kissed my hand again.

I couldn't help it! And when Fang bent over and kissed me on the lips, it was like I woke from a trance. I was in a hospital room, but that wasn't what I cared about right now. Fang was kissing me. I put my hands on the back of his head and neck and pulled him closer to me. If Fang was surprised that I woke up, he didn't show it. I pulled him onto the bed and we just sat there kissing like that. Then I rolled out from underneath my sheet and ended up on top of him.

_Thank God_ that this hospital didn't dress its patients in those disgusting nightgowns that show your butt in the back. Instead I was in blue pajama pants and a white t-shirt. There were slits that were cut in the back for my wings.

When I rolled on top of Fang, I felt the wires in my arms being pulled out, but I didn't care. All I wanted was Fang. I felt pain in my stomach, but I ignored it. Fang's hands were on my hips and both of mine we on his chest. I felt strips of muscle under his skin. I was pressed so close to Fang. I _loved_ it. This moment was perfect. We were perfectly alone and nothing could ruin this moment.

Until someone cleared their throat from the doorway. I leapt off of Fang and he stood up, looking at my mom awkwardly.

"Well, I can see you're feeling better." My mom said to me, a smirk obviously being fought off of her face.

"Lift up your shirt please." A doctor said to me.

I raised my eyebrows at him and laughed, "I can kick your ass, perv—"

"MAX!" My mom yelled at me.

Then I realized that he was talking about the stab I had received nine or ten hours ago. I lifted the hem of my shirt up, showing a white scar on my stomach. I guess I healed already.

"But that's impossible. She just got out of surgery to fix the wound five hours ago. This would take days or weeks for a person to heal." He looked astonished. I read the doctors nametag and saw _Dr. Needle. _You've got to be kidding me?

"Dr. Needle," I tried not to laugh, "I'm not normal, if you haven't noticed." I extended my wings and felt relief flood over me at stretching them out. "And I'm going home. I feel fine." Fang walked over to the window and opened it. He perched on the sill and jumped out. The nurses gasped, but when he shot his wings out and started flying, they looked at him in awe.

I waved at my mom, "See you at home." I ran to the window and jumped out, feeling the cool fall air beneath my wings.


	26. Only One Person Knows I Think I'm Gay

Quote #8: _The police are looking for a suspect who is smart, sexy, and funny. Your ugly ass is safe, but where should I hide?_ Sorry I haven't updated in a while, life has been so busy lately :P. 

**Max POV**

I glared ahead of me and tried to keep the wind from blowing my hair in my face. I wasn't flying point in the V the flocks were flying in. I always fly the point.

Kiki recommended that she fly in the front because my "injury" could "slow us down". Why was she flying point instead of Hawk or Travis? At least they are the leaders of their flocks! Kiki isn't. I don't like her. She's like the cheerleader of the high school. And I'm nothing but the sporty tomboy.

When Fang and I got back to my mother's house, I left a note saying I love her and we all left after hugging Ella and sending her to her neighbor, Mrs. Morris's house. We had a ten minute long debate on who would fly the point. Hawk knew not to mess with me, and Travis stayed quiet, so Kiki walked up, smiling, and somehow, someway, she ended up leading the group.

Hawk flew up next to me, smirking. "I can hear you cursing her out through your mind from halfway across the sky." She chuckled and ran he fingers through her long, awesome hair. Even Hawk had awesome hair; it was like the brown version of Kiki's. Long and silky. Mine was all ratty and knotted. "Your hair is pretty, just let me get a brush through it later." She smiled at me.

"Get out of my head." I said to her, and even though I tried not to, I smiled a little bit.

"So, Fang's mind keeps going on about this make-out session at the hospital. It sounded pretty hot." I blushed and she smirked at me. "I take it you healed just fine?" She laughed, clutching her side a little. My eyes immediately widened and my face turned red. "It's cute. You've got a keeper." She flew up over me and patted my shoulder.

"You know, you have a keeper too." Ha-ha. I can play this game too. If she was going to read my mind about stuff with Fang, I'm going to use Iggy against her. But it was all out of good fun. Hawk was cool enough to know that.

"What are you talking about?" Her cheeks turned a shade of pink and red spots crept up her neck.

I smiled, "You and Iggy obviously have something going on. Don't break his heart. He's a sweet kid." I looked up at her, and her face was calm; different from her usual sarcastic, yet serious demeanor.

"I know." She smirked down at me and flew away, next to Iggy. That's when Fang flew next to me.

"Where does the O' Mighty Voice direct us to now?" He asked me. I looked at him and sighed. I have heard nothing from the Voice the past couple of hours. The Voice was what led us to Travis's flock, but now it has been silent.

"Nothing. But I have a plan." I didn't have a plan, but no one needs to know that.

"No you don't." Fang said. Damn, he knows me too well. "Look at the flock, Max." I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion.

"Whaa—" I was saying, but he cut me off.

"Just look at them."

I looked at everyone around me. Lima and Angel were flying around each other, laughing about something. Taya, Xavier and Gazzy were swooping around, playing tag. Iggy and Hawk were smiling at the other. Nudge was blabbing away to Kris about some superstar. Josh and Janie were holding hands, blocking out everything but each other. Travis, Spike and Jacob were trying to decide if Hawk was hot or not; which was extremely rude, even if they all voted yes. And Kiki was leading us all. They all looked happy. And then I realized something important.

"You called them all by one flock." I said to Fang. He shrugged and looked at me, his gaze sent shivers up my spine.

"I don't think of us as three different flocks anymore. Hawk, Josh, Xavier and Janie feel like they have been with me as long as you guys have. And Travis, Kiki, the Twins, Kris, Taya, and Lima fit in just fine. It's a big _happy_ family. I want it to stay like that." I looked at him, amazed. That was deep. Well, deep for Fang anyway.

_I think you should combine the flocks. _My eyes widened. The Voice was back.

"The Voice is back." I said. Fang's face fell and he took a deep breath.

"Where to next?" He asked.

_You know the drill, Voice. _I thought.

_Venice, Italy. __Say la vita. _

_What?_

_It's Italian, for enjoy life. _

I rolled my eyes and yelled, "Stop!" At the top of my lungs. Which is loud. Everyone stopped, but still had to turn around and look for me.

"This is why I should be point!" I growled at Kiki. I turned around and looked down. We were over the mountains in Colorado. I started losing altitude and landed on a dry patch of the mountain. Everyone soon landed behind me, fully attentive.

"We're going to Venice." I said.

"Total would love Venice. Maybe we should go back to Dr. M's house and get him. He would never forgive us if we don't take him." Angel said.

"Total was oddly quiet while he was at my mom's house. I never noticed he was there…" I said, looking at Angel and trying to remember if Total was in any of my memories.

"He was in a dog house out back, that's his and Akila's house now." Oh.

"Venice?" Asked other confused faces.

"The O' Mighty Voice has spoken." Fang sneered.

**Iggy POV**

When Max broke it to everyone that we were going to Italy, I felt like my whole body was beat. I just wanted to lie down and fall asleep. We were in Colorado. Italy is far from Colorado, very far. Everyone sat there silently and looked at Max.

"We're going to rest here for the night. I know, it's freezing, but buddy up with someone and stay close to them. Body heat, my friends." Max walked away and sat down with her partner, who was obviously going to be Fang. I looked over at Gazzy, who could maybe be my partner, but Xavier and he were already talking away. I walked over to Hawk and put my hands in my pants pockets.

"Gazzy would usually be my partner, but Xavier got to him before me." I tried to pinpoint the direction of the sound of Hawk's breathing so I could be looking near her face.

"Are you asking me to be your partner, or are you just stating the obvious?" Hawk asked. Even though I couldn't see it, I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Both?" I asked her. Hawk laughed.

"Sure, Iggy, I'll be your partner." She grabbed my hand and walked me over to a dry spot on the mountain. I sat down next to her and started feeling the cold, causing me to shiver. I heard Hawk shivering too and hugged her close to me, trying to warm us both up.

"This is going to be a long night…" I whispered, watching my breath float up into the air.

"Sometimes I wonder if Max is thinking when she makes a decision for us to stay the night." Hawk chuckled and lay back onto a tree stump. I lay back with her and we closed our eyes, hugging each other to stay warm.

**Nudge POV**

"Hey, Kris." I smiled and looked at the gorgeous cream-skinned, green-haired, boy standing in front of me. He was going to be my partner tonight. I will make sure of it.

Kris turned around and smiled at me, "Hey, Nudgester." He gave me that nickname. Isn't is so cute? "Taya already asked me to be my partner. Sorry, hun." I whipped around and glared at Taya, who was smiling evilly at me.

"Then that leaves me without a partner! I'll freeze to death up here!" I whined. I'm getting Kris. Whether his little sister likes it or not.

Kris bit his lip and looked around, "Surely, there has to be someone…"

"Max and Fang. Iggy and Hawk. Josh and Janie. Kiki and Travis. Gazzy and Xavier. Spike and Jacob. Lima and Angel. Everyone else has a partner. Taya can help keep Lima and Angel warm! The two of them surely aren't big enough to produce that much body heat! I mean have you _seen _them? They are so skinny! Taya, isn't fat or anything." That one got a glare from Taya, which let me know I was ticking her off. " It's just that she has more muscle that can keep those two from freezing to death!" I took a deep breath, feeling slightly light-headed from not taking any breaths.

You could see the confusion all over Kris's face. He looked from Taya to me, and then back to Taya. "She has a point…"

Taya's face turned beat red and she made a noise of disgust from the back of her throat, "You always told me family comes first. But now all you seem to want to do is get into Ms. Twelve Year Old's pants! That's a four year difference you pig!" She glared at me and then, get this, fire literally _shot from her hands._ I yelped and leaped back as she stomped off to Angel and Lima, who seemed happy to have another partner in the group.

"Since when could she do that?" I asked.

Kris's eyes widened, "For a while. She didn't mean what she said about me being in your… yeah." But all I did was smile. Because if it was true, it was so _hot._

**Gazzy POV**

"Are you going to teach me how to make a bomb or what?" Xavier asked me, smiling. I promised him a few days ago that I would dig up some supplies from Iggy to give Xavier some lessons on how to construct a bomb.

"Soon, soon. I promise." I smiled back, hoping that I could do it soon so we can destroy things together. Iggy and Hawk have been so caught up with each other that me and Xavier we left in the dust. At least we became friends.

_If you destroy his innocence, boy, I'll kill you. _Hawk's voice rang through my head and I jumped a bit. Xavier noticed and looked at me questionably.

_His innocence was long gone by the time I got to him. _I smiled and looked over to the corner Hawk and Iggy were sitting in. Hawk shook her head and smirked.

"What's wrong?" Xavier asked me. I just shook my head.

"Your sister is creepin' on my mind." I laughed and Xavier smiled.

I looked back over at Hawk and she started laughing. Iggy gave me a _stop-it-right-now-you're-ruining-it-for-me _expression. I winked at him (even though her couldn't see it) and turned back around to Xavier.

"I'm freezing." He said to me. I nodded in agreement and sat next to him. I looked down in my lap. Two boys can't hug each other, right? Would it look weird?

It's just that I have this big secret that only Angel knows… but I'm nine. And Iggy and Fang have girlfriends. I'll turn out like that. Right?

_Go ahead, Gazzy. You can hug him. He's confused about that too. _I looked over at Hawk, my eyes wide. She just smiled and nestled into Iggy, closing her eyes. I looked around, making sure Hawk said that in my _head_, and saw Max and Fang on watch.

I guess Hawk knows my secret now, too.


End file.
